Who Let Him Cultivate?!

Chapter 518: Chapter 517: Murderer_1

“Don’t touch anything at the crime scene!” Song Tian shouted loudly, warning everyone not to act recklessly and ruin the scene, which would make it difficult to identify the murderer.

Tao Yaoye and Lan Ting carefully studied the setting of the study room. It was simply furnished, with two rows of bookshelves, two paintings hanging on the wall, and some yellow talismans with a exorcising effect. Apart from these, there was a desk, a wooden chair, a tea table, and a vase on the tea table… it was no different from an ordinary study room.

The door was tightly shut, and according to the housekeeper, the windows were also tightly shut and couldn’t be opened from the outside.

“This is…”

The window was in disrepair, Tao Yaoye found a small hole in the corner of the window.

The housekeeper explained from the side, “Before breaking the window, I made a hole to see if master was really in trouble.”

...

“It must be you who killed father, big brother!” The second son, Song Qing, grabbed Song Tian’s collar and screamed, extremely angry, his eyes were bloodshot, like a mad dog.

Song Tian was unhappy, his eyebrow furrowed, he pushed his younger brother away and rebuked, “What nonsense are you talking about!”

“I’m not talking nonsense. Don’t think I don’t know. After you took over father’s business, it has been losing money all the time. You suffered a big loss due to a failed investment earlier, and you dared not tell father, fearing that father would be angry and take the family business away from you!”

“Now that you have killed father, you are the primary successor, and the family business is all yours!”

Song Tian was furious, “Nonsense! You have more motive to kill than me, you failed the exam several times, and our father broke your leg out of anger, and said that if you couldn’t achieve a title, you would never inherit a penny from the family property in your life! I heard once from your friend that you were partying and swearing to kill father!”

“You bribed my friend!”

“Your friend has a weakness for money.”

Song Lian’er, trembling, pointed at Mr. Song’s corpse and said, “Stop arguing, look, father’s eyes are still open, he died with his eyes open.”

Everyone looked over and found that Mr. Song had died with his eyes open, looking straight at the tea table.

The youngest son, Song Qi, followed Mr. Song’s gaze and saw a blue and white porcelain vase on the tea table.

“Blue and white porcelain vase… Blue and white porcelain… Qing… Song Qing, the second brother! This is the clue father left before he died! Song Qing, you killed father!”

The second son, Song Qing, was taken aback, “Nonsense, just based on such nonsense, you say I killed him?”

“Father is extending one finger with his right hand, clearly indicating the eldest brother!”

“More importantly, who present doesn’t have a motive? Third brother, you resent father for cutting off your spending money, making you lose face among your friends. By killing father and inheriting part of the family fortune, you naturally have money!”

“And little sister, father was forcing you to break up with the boy surnamed Zhou. You didn’t listen and have been secretly contacting him. Once Father dies, there’s no one to stop you from marrying the boy surnamed Zhou!”

Song Qing pointed out each of their motivations one by one, each having a possible motive to kill.

Tao Yaoye suddenly asked, “When was the last time you all saw Mr. Song?”

“I saw father in the yard when I was reading in the morning, then went back to my room to read, that was two and a half hours ago.”

The third son hesitated and said, “An hour ago, I came to the study to take some money. When I was leaving, I ran into father entering the study room, and he scolded me.” @@novelbin@@

Song Lian’er said, “I brought a bowl of tea to father in the study half an hour ago.”

The housekeeper echoed, “Miss was bringing tea in, and I was just outside the door, and I haven’t seen the master since then.”

Lan Ting nodded, “So Mr. Song passed away less than half an hour ago.”

“What were you all doing half an hour ago, and who can prove it?”

The eldest son, Song Tian, took the lead in saying, “I was checking the account book in the shop at that time. The clerks can prove it.”

The second son, Song Qing, also said, “I was reading, and while no one saw me, I have a habit of reading aloud. The maids passing by the house should have heard me.”

The third son, Song Qi, said, “I was drinking and watching dances with friends at the brothel. The second son of Wang’s family, the eldest son of Kong’s family, and people from the Sun family were all with me. However, I was drunk and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was home, and I don’t know who sent me back.”

Song Lian’er had tears welling up in her eyes: “After serving my father tea, I remained in my room until Big Brother came looking for me.”

“Can anyone verify this?”

Song Lian’er’s voice got increasingly quieter: “No.”

Tao Yaoye sharp senses picked up something odd: “Hold on, you said you served Mr. Song tea. So, where is the teacup?”

There was only a blue and white porcelain vase on the tea table, but no teacups.

It’s impossible that Song Lian’er would wait for Mr. Song to finish his tea before taking away the cup.

Song Lian’er stammered, unable to utter a word.

“Little sister, you must say something!” Song Qi, the third son, quickly urged, his forehead dripping with sweat.

Eventually, Song Lian’er steeled herself and said, “The housekeeper told me there’s no rift between a father and a daughter that couldn’t be mended. He encouraged me to talk to my father about Zhou’s issue. I served tea to my father to plead with him to approve of my affair with Zhou. He got angry as soon as he heard it and threw the teacup on the floor. The housekeeper picked up the teacup and took it away. I went back to my room and cried.”

Song Tian frowned at the housekeeper, hinting his questioning: “If that’s the case, housekeeper, why didn’t you mention it? And you should have known that our father would never approve of Little Sister’s matter!”

The housekeeper met Song Tian’s gaze, panic causing him to look away.

“Look into my eyes! What were you trying to do!” Song Tian demanded fiercely.

Seeing everyone looking at him with displeasure, the housekeeper realized he couldn’t avoid it, he sighed in resignation: “Actually, the man Miss likes is my illegitimate son. I wanted to match them, but I didn’t expect the Master to be so adamant.”

Song Lian’er looked at the housekeeper, dumbfounded. She had not expected the housekeeper and Zhou to share this connection.

So, the words of encouragement the housekeeper had always spoken to her were not to spur her to pursue love?

Song Lian’er was blank, something in her heart crumbled.

Tao Yaoye whispered, “That being the case, it’s highly likely that Song Lian’er and the housekeeper conspired together! The housekeeper could have fired a poisonous ice needle from the window to kill Mr. Song, and disguised it by piercing the paper window under the pretense of investigation.”

Lan Ting shook her head, holding her own views: “If so, how could the housekeeper ensure that the eldest son would let him see Mr. Song? Keep in mind, he didn’t know we were coming.”

“In my opinion, it is possible that it’s the second son, Song Qing. He claimed that he was reading in his room, but with a Recording Orb purchased from a merchant’s guild broadcasting his voice non-stop, he could easily fabricate an alibi!”

The two debated in low voices, failing to reach a consensus, so they turned to Lu Yang.

“Senior Brother Lu, who do you think is the murderer?”

Lu Yang didn’t respond. He silently walked over, crouched down next to Mr. Song, and took out a Soul Returning Pill.

This was something he had purchased from the Task Hall when he went to the Wild State, fearing any surprises. He hadn’t used it until now.

The elixir melted in Mr. Song’s mouth and he slowly aroused, looking a bit confused.

Lu Yang explained, “Mr. Song isn’t dead. His soul was stolen. I used the Soul Returning Pill to reel his soul back.”

Lu Yang, frequently being possessed, was far more experienced in dealing with souls than his two junior sisters.

“Mr. Song, we three came from the Immortal Sect. Who stole your soul?”

Mr. Song was initially a bit muddled, but upon hearing Lu Yang’s words, his eyes became determined, and he named his attacker:

“It was the painting.”

Lu Yang turned to everyone and said, “Look, we’ve found the murderer.”

The Song siblings: “…”

Housekeeper: “…”