Chapter 1258: Clouds of Suspicion

"What did you say?"

At the entrance of the side room, Han Meng was suddenly stunned.

Pu Chunshu stood outside the door, looking at the bewildered Han Meng, and shrugged his shoulders bitterly...

"After the two councilors left the Pu family, the vehicle they were riding in malfunctioned. The two bodyguards weren't paying attention, and they went missing... When they were discovered, they had already been killed miserably on Gonggu Street." Pu Chunshu sighed.

"Now the high-level officials of the Nanhai Domain are in a complete mess. The other councilors are taking this matter very seriously and have already sent people to investigate."

Han Meng frowned and pondered for a long time.

"This has nothing to do with me."

"Of course I know it has nothing to do with you. From the moment you got out of the car, you have been under the supervision of our Pu family. At the time of the incident, we have over a dozen witnesses who can prove you were in the Pu family the whole time and didn't have contact with anyone..."

Pu Chunshu gave a bitter smile. "But you're innocent, but our Pu family is in trouble."

Councilors were attacked right after leaving the Pu family, and the Nanhai high-level officials had always known that the Pu family was dissatisfied with the councilors. The two councilors had just warned the Pu family and were killed right after leaving. Anyone with a brain would link the Pu family to the councilors' deaths... Although there was no direct evidence, initial suspicion was inevitable.

Someone could testify to Han Meng's innocence, but who could testify to the Pu family's innocence?

"There's one more thing." Pu Chunshu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Although it's just a rumor... it's said that next to the bodies of the two councilors, a symbol resembling a '6' was drawn in blood..."

Hearing the second half of the sentence, a glimmer flashed in Han Meng's eyes.

"Blood, 6?"

"Yes, we are still verifying the specific details with the government, but it's highly likely to be true." Pu Chunshu looked at Han Meng with a complex expression. "Officer Han Meng... you are quite familiar with him. Do you think it could be him?"

Han Meng pondered for a moment:

"Based on my understanding of him, if he really wanted to kill someone under the name of Heart 6, he would scatter [Heart 6] playing cards all over the ground, rather than just writing a simple '6'..."

"You mean the real killer is deliberately imitating that person?"

"As long as you flip through the past files on Heart 6, it's actually easy to see this. If he wants to be flamboyant, he will be flamboyant to the extreme, rather than leaving a vague mark to invite speculation."

"Killing councilors and then framing the World-Ending Calamity that no one dares to provoke... It's certainly a good way to confuse the public, but isn't he afraid of blowing things out of proportion?" Pu Chunshu was completely baffled.

Han Meng didn't answer. He also felt a bit confused.

"Just sitting here guessing is useless." Han Meng shook his head. "There's too little information now. If I could go to the scene, I should be able to find more."

"That might be a bit difficult..."

"In the current Nanhai Domain, no one is better at reasoning and tracking than me, and no one understands him better than me." Han Meng looked at Pu Chunshu and continued, "Of course, I'm just a prisoner now. Whether you use me... you decide for yourselves."

With that, Han Meng walked back into the dim side room and closed the door.

Under the dim clouds, Pu Chunshu looked at the closed door. After hesitating for a long time, he gritted his teeth and hurried toward the family head's room.

Behind the curtain gap, Han Meng saw the direction Pu Chunshu left in, his eyes narrowing slightly...

For some reason,

just now, in Pu Chunshu's description, Han Meng smelled something different.

Councilors were killed on the street, and traces suspected to be from the World-Ending Calamity Heart 6 appeared at the scene. The high-level officials of the Nanhai Domain must be panicking right now... The best outcome would be that political rivals of the two councilors committed the murder and framed Heart 6; but the worst outcome would be that Chen Ling really came in person...

Think about it carefully: it's wartime now. If the Ghost Mocking Abyss wanted to go to war with the Nanhai Domain and Chen Ling had successfully infiltrated the domain, his primary goal should be to stay hidden and strike at a critical moment. But he went to great lengths to trick the bodyguards away, then killed two ordinary people, and even exposed his own identity. This whole thing sounds absurd.

The high-level officials of the Nanhai Domain haven't reacted too strongly yet, mostly because they've figured this out and think someone is framing Chen Ling.

No...

This is the logical thinking of a normal person, or rather, the logic of a normal person toward a "World-Ending Calamity."

Han Meng's frown deepened. He sketched out Chen Ling's image in his mind, only to find another possibility... a possibility that only someone who truly understood the "humanity" side of Chen Ling would think of.

"Is it you?"

Han Meng muttered to himself,

"What... exactly are you trying to do?"

……

"I want to eat a peach."

Chen Ling pointed to the fruit platter on the dining table.

At the welcome banquet, the crowd, still immersed in the atmosphere of shock, finally managed to come back to their senses. Pu Shu turned to look at Chen Ling and couldn't help but speak:

"Cousin, didn't you hear what he said? That World-Ending Calamity Chen Ling is already killing people in the Nanhai Domain, and you're in the mood to eat a peach??"

Although he said that, Pu Shu still obediently got a peach for Chen Ling.

"Who said Chen Ling killed them?" Chen Ling said faintly.

"If it were really the World-Ending Calamity killing people, do you think you'd know about this news? The high-level officials would have blocked the news long ago to avoid causing panic... Taking a step back, even if it really was Chen Ling who killed them, what does it have to do with you?

When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. The Nanhai Lord and our family head aren't worried, so why are you? Does he, a dignified World-Ending Calamity, have nothing better to do than target us juniors?"

Everyone thought about it, and it seemed to be the truth. Their hearts relaxed quite a bit.

"It has to be Brother Jianyue, calm in the face of danger, clear-headed!"

"Yeah, I was really scared just now. Brother Jianyue is the one who sees things clearly! Come, I'll toast Brother Jianyue!!"

"I'll join in!"

“……”

The atmosphere of the welcome banquet became active again, but Chen Ling waved his hand.

"No more drinking... I'm a bit tired."

"Cousin, then I'll see you off." Pu Shu stood up and said.

"No need." Chen Ling looked around to make sure no one was there and leaned into Pu Shu's ear, "A-Shu, you guys go back first. I'll go play for a bit in a while..."

"Huh? Cousin, you should have said so earlier, I've already arranged everything..."

"A-Shu, tell me, how can the wild flowers outside compare to the flowers in someone else's home?"

Chen Ling raised his chin and made a "you know what I mean" expression.

Pu Shu was stunned, then seemed to realize something and revealed a knowing smile:

"Haha, Cousin, you've become more open after your training trip... Don't worry, I'll keep this a secret for you. I won't say a word even if I die."

Disturbed by the news of Heart 6 killing people, Pu Shu didn't have the mood for the second half of the fun... After all, back in the Aurora Domain, Chen Ling was one of his enemies. Although he knew Chen Ling was now a notorious World-Ending Calamity and probably wouldn't deliberately take revenge on a semi-transparent character like him, he always felt uneasy in his heart.

After Chen Ling said goodbye to him, he took advantage of the night and walked toward the end of the street.