Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu hadn't expected that even the apricot blossoms at Crouching Tiger Hill would get dragged into this.

He wanted to ask more questions, but the burly man clearly had reached the end of his hope, and after speaking his last words, he took his knife and took his own life.

Worried about Gu Qingyi's safety, he rushed into the dye workshop with utmost urgency after the game ended, not taking the time to check the body.

To his surprise, no fight had taken place inside.

Gu Qingyi had already searched the dye workshop and hadn't found the man with the birthmark under his ear.

Nor was the Lotus Bowl discovered; only a piece of disturbed soil was found in the backyard, and upon digging, they found seven or eight bodies, assumed from their garb to be former workers of the dye workshop.

Gu Qingyi felt somewhat disappointed, as if her punched fist had once again hit empty air. She turned her head and saw Ma Lu staring into space at a jujube tree in the courtyard.

"What are you thinking about?" Gu Qingyi asked, suppressing the frustration in her heart.

"I'm wondering about the whereabouts of that Lotus Bowl." said Ma Lu.

"Eh, you're just going to... stand there and think about it?"

"Hmm." Ma Lu nodded.

"Stop thinking. Even if you figure out where the Lotus Bowl is, it's already too late," she said.

Gu Qingyi looked up at the sky— the sun was about to set completely. The impending battle between the Beggars' Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect was unavoidable.

But no sooner had she finished speaking than she saw Ma Lu suddenly stride out the door of the dye workshop and head straight for the pack horse outside.

Gu Qingyi thought Ma Lu might want to go somewhere else, but instead of mounting the horse, he circled the pack horse and reached into the saddlebags below the saddle.

And when he pulled out his hand from the saddlebag, there was an inconspicuous little bowl in it.

Ma Lu raised the little bowl to his eyes and indeed there was a small nick on its edge.

"Why are you taking out a bowl? Are you thirsty?" she asked.

"No, I've found the Lotus Bowl." Ma Lu replied.

"Ah?"

Gu Qingyi was stunned, her first reaction being that Ma Lu had become delusional from the strain of the investigation.

They had indeed worked hard searching for the bowl everywhere recently, but that didn't mean that any bowl they stumbled upon would resemble the Lotus Bowl.

However, when Gu Qingyi took the bowl and scrutinized it closely, she too was taken aback; for in appearance, it did look very much like the stolen Lotus Bowl that the Beggars' Sect had described.

Gu Qingyi even went back to her own horse to fetch a scroll of painting; she unfurled it, and the Lotus Bowl depicted on the painting was exactly like the one in her hand, down to the last detail.

This scroll was obtained from Chu Qianyuan; it was drawn by a skilled painter, said to be no different from the original.

"How did you find it?" she asked.

Gu Qingyi was at a loss for an explanation.

She couldn't fathom how the Lotus Bowl, which both the underworld and law-enforcement of Yuchang County hadn't been able to find every inch of the land, had been discovered by Ma Lu.

"This matter is a long story," Ma Lu said, "First let's go to the Beggars' Sect to stop their battle with the Heavenly Dragon Sect. I'll explain everything on the way."

"Okay."

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Seeing a glimmer of hope to avert conflict and prevent a bloodbath in Yuchang County, Gu Qingyi's eyes also flickered with delight, and she promptly agreed.

Ma Lu stepped onto the stirrup and mounted the packhorse. As he and Gu Qingyi headed towards the headquarters of the Beggars' Sect, he made a surprising statement.

"This Lotus Bowl wasn't found by me; it has always been in the saddlebag."

"Ah, but wasn't that packhorse from the Xingtong Escort Agency... um, the one you borrowed? And at that time, the Beggars' Sect still hadn't lost their Lotus Bowl."

"I did borrow the horse when the Lotus Bowl was still with the Beggars' Sect. But I left the horse in a small village for about a week, and that was when the Lotus Bowl was stolen and placed into my saddlebag."

Ma Lu had now basically clarified the cause and effect of the incident, and he also understood what Han Guangzhong meant by the answer being right before his eyes.

However, this made him even more curious about Han Guangzhong's identity—who was he really, and did he possibly know all along that the Lotus Bowl was hidden in his saddlebag? If so, why didn't he take it himself?@@novelbin@@

While pondering, Ma Lu continued, "The ones who did this are the same group we encountered at the dye workshop. Hmm, but their leader didn't seem to be there."

"Those people disguised themselves as members of the Merry Woods to force that Beggar's Gang Member to steal the Lotus Bowl. After he stole it, they hid the Lotus Bowl in the village where I stored my horse."

"Then they released information to Xinghua Village, so the bandits of Xinghua Village would go and retrieve it."

Gu Qingyi listened, somewhat understanding yet not fully grasping the connection to the bandits of Crouching Tiger Hill.

Fortunately, Ma Lu quickly explained, "The goal of those who stole the Lotus Bowl was simple—they wanted to intensify the conflict between the Beggars' Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect, inciting war between the two greatest martial arts forces in Qingzhou."

"They started by pretending to be from Merry Woods and lending money to the Beggar's Gang Member because Merry Woods is a significant enterprise of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. I suspect Hong Xinghua of Xinghua Village must also have some kind of relationship with the Heavenly Dragon Sect."

"Hmm, maybe she's even Li Tianlong's mistress or something. Regardless, if the Lotus Bowl ended up in her hands, it would be like a pile of dung on the Heavenly Dragon Sect's head, impossible to shake off."

"But wouldn't Hong Xinghua know that the Lotus Bowl is a hot potato? She's just a bandit chief on Crouching Tiger Hill; where would she get the courage to provoke something as enormous as the Beggars' Sect?" Gu Qingyi asked.

"Hong Xinghua must have some special method of contact with the Heavenly Dragon Sect that was decoded by that group of people. They impersonated the Heavenly Dragon Sect to contact her, making Hong Xinghua believe she was following Li Tianlong's orders."

Ma Lu recalled the group of robbers he encountered that day; while begging for mercy, they specifically mentioned they were doing a job for the Heavenly Dragon Sect and warned him not to become an enemy of the Sect.

At that time, Ma Lu didn't take their words to heart, nor did he expect the job they were referring to was to take the Lotus Bowl.

Of course, the group at the dye workshop also didn't expect Ma Lu to intervene and rob them midway.

In hindsight, it wasn't strange for them to hide the item on the packhorse, because in this Plane, horses of any kind were not cheap; even the most common packhorse cost more than ten pieces of silver.

Moreover, the bandits of Crouching Tiger Hill couldn't do without horses—if they found horses in a village, they certainly wouldn't pass them by, ensuring they would definitely take the Lotus Bowl with them.

What that group didn't anticipate was that the packhorse they targeted had another owner.

When Ma Lu came again, he happened to encounter the bandits from Xinghua Village, casually drove them away, and also led off the packhorse hiding the Lotus Bowl.

As for why Ma Lu was certain that the group he encountered came from Xinghua Village, it was simple: the job had failed, someone had died, which made Hong Xinghua feel it was bad luck. She later even brought in the false Monk Guang Yin to perform rituals in the village.

After the rituals, the fake Monk just loitered around Xinghua Village and refused to leave.