Murder In Broad Daylight

Whoosh!

Sheng Tian descended onto the stone ground in front of a large shop. One side of the wooden building had completely collapsed, with people currently surrounding the ruins and locking down the area.

Sheng Tian looked around and found that there were people from every sect gathered in the area. He went up to where a few disciples of the Sky Sword Sect had gathered.

"Senior Sheng Tian!"

Those disciples instantly recognized Sheng Tian and greeted him, causing some of the others around them to look over. While most were in awe or expressionless, those from the Sacred Blood Palace and Everlasting Temple were very expressive, with some emitting slight killing intent.

Weng!

Sheng Tian sent back a gust of wind that carried his aura at them, making them stumble in fear. He snorted, their strengths weren't even in the same Heavens.

He turned his attention back to his fellow sect brothers and sisters who looked at him with worship, "What happened here?"

One of the young men pointed at the ruins, "A huge explosion destroyed half of this market. While it was quite weak and most only suffered light wounds, the dead body of a person was found at the center of the rubble"

Sheng Tian frowned and walked over to the part of the market that had been destroyed. A man from a little known sect tried to stop him, but instantly made way when he saw who was trying to get by.

Sheng Tian stood at the edge of the small crater and peered at the charred body at the center. It was unclear whose sect they were from but Sheng Tian instantly noticed that the body was old and had been dead for a long time.

Whoosh!

Yue Ling'er and her 2 disciples descended next to Sheng Tian and looked at the dead body.

"It looks like it was planted there," Bing Xue noted.

Sheng Tian nodded, "There was an explosion that destroyed this building. Most were fine and a few experienced light injuries. It's not possible for someone to be killed"

Whoosh!

"What happened here?"

They turned around and saw the representative of the Xia Empire and several sect leaders, including Long Chen, arrive at the scene.

Sheng Tian pointed behind him, "Someone's trying to sow chaos by planting an unknown dead body where every sect is gathered"

The envoy went closer to inspect the body, followed by the other sect leaders. Mo Ling Gu made sure to glare at Sheng Tian as he walked by, which was responded in kind with a sneer.

Yue Ling'er turned to Sheng Tian, "Lets go check it out"

Sheng Tian nodded and followed after the women. They joined the others in a circle around the blackened corpse.

"Hmm"

The envoy stroked his beard, "This body had indeed been dead for a long time. It isn't so much of a murder as it is trying to increase tension"

Long Chen frowned, "Who would do this inside of an area under the Xia Empire? And whose body is this even?"

An unfamiliar man stepped forward and took out a jade mirror. He then pointed the mirror at the corpse and injected his qi into the item.

Weng!

"Gasp!"

Several of the sect leaders gasped when they saw the projection in the mirror. It was an old man with long white hair and dressed in an equally white robe. None of his features were notable, though he did give off a scholarly air.

"Isn't that Daoist White Crane of the Soaring Crane Sect?!"

The man with the mirror was shocked too, as he was good friends with Daoist White Crane, "The Origin Revealing Mirror doesn't lie. No wonder White Crane had been gone for so long, he was dead all this time..."

A few of the weaker sect leaders panicked. White Crane was a relatively powerful Foundation cultivator. Such a being died without a sound and without anyone finding out.

"Silence!"

Everyone shut up and looked at the representative.

The envoy had clearly anger, made evident with his facial expressions, "I will send a message back to the empire and they will send people to investigate. Everyone is to go back to your own residences and stay in their own areas until the investigation is over"

With some hesitation, the sect leaders called for their disciples and sent message talismans to those not in the area.

Sheng Tian turned to face Yue Ling'er and her disciples, "I guess we'll not be able to see each other for a while"

She nodded, "We'll continue that fight some other time then"

And with that, she left with Xiao Hua and Bing Xue.

Sheng Tian walked over to Long Chen who was gathering the disciples that were at the scene and sending message talismans to those who were not. He turned around after sensing Sheng Tian's presence.

He peered at Sheng Tian's face, "You don't happen to know how Daoist White Crane could have died or who might be responsible, right?"

Sheng Tian smiled and shook his head, "Nope, I know about as much as you do"

Long Chen stroked his beard, "Really? Do you think it can be the Sacred Blood Palace then?"

"I don't know, we'll have to wait and see how things progress"

Long Chen nodded and took out a flying boat, beckoning for his disciples to board. Sheng Tian didn't bother with this slow method of transportation and flew away by himself.

Shortly after he left, Wu Di talked to him inside his sea of consciousness.

"Do you actually not know who killed that man?"

Sheng Tian thought back at the faces of everyone at the scene.

"It is unlikely to be the Sacred Blood Palace or the Everlasting Temple. Even Mo Ling Gu was truly surprised by the fact that someone killed White Crane and brought his corpse here"

He paused for a short moment, "If I had to guess, it might be those mysterious devils that we've been hearing about. My greatest concern right now is that the demon worshipers will take advantage of this and create more chaos"

Feng Wu Di nodded inside the sea of consciousness, "That makes sense, of course, we can only wait and see for now"

He smiled deviously, making Sheng Tian shiver despite not seeing it.

"In the meantime, find a good place to enter seclusion. You've got much to learn"