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A group of armored men immediately emerged from the crowd. When the servant heard the words "death by a thousand cuts," he cried out in terror, "Family Head, it wasn't me…. I didn't…. Family Head, please understand!"

"Take him away." Even Gao Xiong's eyes were smeared with blood. His armor-clad subordinates dragged the unfortunate servant from the courtyard.

His agonized howls echoed through the crowd's ears, but they were silent. None of them said a single word, even though all of them knew….

There was absolutely no way that the servant was the murderer.

However, Gao Xiong had already determined his fate: the cruelest end of all, death by a thousand cuts.

From the look of things, Gao Yunting's death combined with Gao Ruilong's murder had robbed their leader of his rationality.

"From last night until this morning, whole else entered Ruilong's residence?"

The onlookers all lowered their heads. By now, no one dared space. So long as they said even a single word, they were doomed no matter how they explained themselves.

"No one has anything to say?" Gao Xiong's cold gaze swept over the crowd. When they remained silent, he pointed at the dead mortal woman and said, "Who sent her here?"

Quite a few of them had already nervously clenched their fists. These were the people who'd participated in Gao Ruilong's banquet the night before.

Cai Renfei, who wasn't far away, slightly furled his brows. Indeed, old ginger was the spiciest; the old man had realized that the key lay with the woman at a glance.

Quite a few people knew that he'd arranged for a mortal woman to entertain Gao Ruilong. He looked at them.

"Think it over carefully. If you speak, I'll pardon you of all crimes. However, if you don't speak and I later discover you hid information from me, I'll have you executed."

This sinister tone broke through their psychological defenses. Finally, a youth in ornamental robes stepped out of the crowd. When Cai Renfei saw him, his pupils constricted.

"It was Cai Renfei. Last night, we were drinking with Young Master Ruilong. It was Cai Renfei who went him that woman."

As he spoke, he pointed at Cai Renfei. Everyone else immediately looked at him as well.

Under the weight of everyone's gaze, as well as Gao Xiong's terrifying glare, Cai Renfei couldn't help but gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously in his throat.

After a moment's hesitation, he took a few steps forward. "Reporting to the Family Head, I did indeed arrange for that mortal woman to accompany Brother Ruilong. However, she was only an ordinary person without the slightest trace of cultivation. She couldn't possibly have threatened Brother Ruilong. Also, Brother Ruilong was stabbed through the chest. He was attacked from the front, so if it was the woman I sent, how could she possibly have landed thee blow? Also, she died in the courtyard too! I humbly request your understanding sir; I've been wrongly accused!"

"That sounds logical." Gao Xiong nodded calmly, and Cai Renfei forced a smile, only to discover that the family head's expression had changed dramatically. "But what if Ruilong didn't resist at all?"

"Esteemed Family Head….."

"She really is an ordinary woman, but what if she held a top-class immortal artifact? What if Ruilong was tied up and helpless? In that case, couldn't she kill him?"

Gulp.

When he heard the family head's analysis, Cai Renfei gulped.

He was exactly right. Gao Xiong had analyzed the situation perfectly.

"You have nothing left to say? Take Cai Renfei away! I sentence him to death by a thousand cuts!"

As soon as he gave the word, someone immediately stepped out of the crowd to seize Cai Renfei. However, before they could reach him, Li Lu's head shot up and she spoke for the first time since.

"Stop!" Li Lu shrieked, stopping the armored troops in their tracks. They dared not recklessly go against her.

"What are you just standing there for? Is she the family head, or am I the family head?" When Gao Xiong saw them pause, he roared, and his soldiers started moving again. However, to his surprise, Li Lu pulled a dagger out of nowhere and pressed it right against her throat.

"Gao Xiong, Cai Renfei is my son. I already lost Ruilong; I can't lose him. If you dare touch him, I'll die right here, right in front of you!"

The pressed lightly on the blade, and red blood dripped from her pale neck. When he saw this, Gao Xiong lost his composure and said hurriedly, "You can't!"

"Release Renfei," she barked at him, not backing down in the slightest. When he saw that he'd pushed her to the verge of suicide,

Gao Xiong hesitated momentarily, sighed, and waved his troops away. "Return to your stations."

Cai Renfei, whose heart had been on tenterhooks, fell to the ground with a bang and kowtowed with all his might.

"Thank you for your leniency, Family Head."

Gao Xiong looked at the bowing Cai Renfei gravely, but said nothing. He'd rather kill a thousand innocents than let the murderer go free, and in his eyes, there absolutely was a good chance that Cai Rnfei was behind this. He even had a motive.

However, Li Lu was the only loved on he had left. He….. couldn't let her die.

"Honey, is this really necessary?" Gao Xiong sighed and walked up to her. He gathered his spiritual energy in his hand and pressed it to her bleeding neck. Before long, the mark sealed up, replaced by a fresh, pale pink scar. Before long, that too disappeared. This wound would no longer cause her any harm.

He caressed Gao Ruilong's cheek, but at that moment….

"Ayi, open Ruilong's hands."

Ayi immediately steppede forth, bowed deeply to Gao Ruilong's corpse, murmered an apology for his transgressions, and opened both his hands.

Gao Ruilong's left hand tightly clenched a scrap of fabric.

"Family Head." Ayi immediately passed it to Gao Xiong for inspection. The scrap was pale blue and had a white segment in its corner.

This was obviously the corner of a diagram or emblem.

"Family Head, the owner of this scrap of cloth is most likely Young Master Ruilong's murderer," said Ayi, who crouched to the side.

Gao Xiong nodded calmly and passed the scrap to Ayi. "Go investigate and see which faction this most likely belongs to."

"Understood," said Ayi before disappearing from view. Little did they know, in Gao Xiong's heart, he laughed bitterly.

What a low-class tactic.

Given his many years of experience, it was obvious that someone was else was trying to frame the owner of that scrap of cloth. Of course, he couldn't discount the chance that it really did belong the murderer. It's just, the odds that whoever it was was being framed were a bit higher is all.

However, this was currently his only clue. Yunting had died at the Xiao Family's request, so as his father, there was nothing he could do for him. He couldn't even hold a funeral for him.

Now Ruilong had died too. How could he possibly just endure this pain? If he could, he wouldn't be the Gao Xiong who set the entire Sky Great District trembling.

A quarter of an hour later, Ayi returned, his expression hurried, and spoke into Gao Xiong's ear.

When he heard Ayi's words, Gao Xiong's expression immediately shifted, but after a brief pause, he gnashed his teeth and roared, "Assemble the troops! We wage war on Upheaval!"

He'd rather kill a thousand innocents than let the murderer go free.

Even if that meant fighting Upheaval!