Chapter 19: Disproving lies take time, evidence and the exposure of secrets.
The guests and clansmen just stared as Zhen Liu, the guy who should’ve been in a stone coffin at this event, just casually walk in like it was no big deal.
While reactions from the on-lookers was mixed, the general tone was just absolute shock. The Third and Fourth Elders were shocked and relieved, the First and Sixth Elders were just plain shocked and the Second and Fifth Elders were shocked and displeased.
Meanwhile, Moka was inwardly cursing. Moka was He was damn sure that the Fourth Young Master was dead, since he was the one who killed him. He even coated his weapons in poison in order to be extra thorough.
How the hell did this guy survive?!
Zhen Liu, however didn’t really notice any of these reactions. He was too busy playing up the identity of an arrogant and indignant young master who knew exactly what was going on.
[Nepherage, have you and Jin Fang found the thing yet?]
[Not yet my lord. Jin Fang says to stall,] a grinding voice in his head replied.
[Okay, how long are y’all gonna need?]
[We need to pick a few locks. We will need ten…five minutes.]
[…why was there such a dramatic drop in time?]
[Jin Fang just blew the door off of it’s hinges and is now tearing the room apart.]
[Cool, five minutes it is.]
With that out of the way, Zhen Liu began his own performance.
“What?,” Zhen Liu asked in a mildly smug tone, “Not happy to see me? Would y’all actually prefer to see me laying in the coffin?”
To emphasize his point, Zhen Liu proceeded to pretend to be laying down while using one leg to support himself. He did this for a few seconds before standing himself back up.
“Well? Shouldn’t y’all be-”
“Now hold on a moment.”
The crowd turned to see who had interrupted the Fourth Young Master from speaking further.
From the crowd walked out a cane-wielding middle-aged man dressed in a green suit decorated with vine patterns. Resting across his shoulders was a rose-type aether beast in the shape of a demented ferret that Zhen Liu recalled being a Carnivorous Rose Creature.
‘This should be my Fifth Uncle, Zhen Jin,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself. He couldn’t help but also think that Zhen Jin looked a bit like a fop.
“While I do admit your performance is impressive, how do we know you’re the real thing and not a fake?,” Zhen Jin asked with an arrogant tone, “don’t you know it’s disrespectful to mimic the dead?”
Zhen Jin gestured to his fellow clansmen in order to illicit a response. Some of them did mutter in agreement.
‘Damn uncle, I know you don’t like me but that’s just cold,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself.
Zhen Liu ground his teeth a bit as he pondered on what his next move should be. As he did, a random memory about his Fifth Uncle suddenly came to mind. A rather devious smile grew on his face as he formulated a response.
“Well? We’re wai-”
“Gee Fifth Uncle,” Zhen Liu interrupted, “you are so right, pretending to be someone who died is rude.”
“Oh? W-well yes and you sho-”
“Why it’s almost as rude as stealing your brother’s riding crop so your wife can spank you with it. Zhen Liu gave his Fifth Uncle a knowing stare as he made this bold claim.
The elders present looked at each other with mild confusion at the strange statement before turning to the Fifth Elder. Right now, he looked a bit pink in the ear.
“You insolent little brat! How dare you imp-”
“Black leather, clover tipped with a Quartz B-”
“Alright, alright!,” Fifth Elder Zhen Jin shouted while waving his arm, “it appears you might be related after all.”
Several of the clansmen and guests had to stifle their laughter at the Fifth Elders’ expense. The Second, Fourth and Sixth Elders on the other hand looked at each other with a knowing look of dread. They all heard a “B”, and now they had to thoroughly clean their riding crops due to theirs having handles made of Quartz Bear claw, Quartz Bison horn and Quartz Boa fang respectively.
At this odd moment of embarrassment, the First Elder stepped forward to try and save some face for the clan.
“If you are indeed Xiao Liu, why don’t you show your clan elders some respect?,” Zhen Long asked with a critical glare and authoritative tone. His nephew may have come back from the dead, but that didn’t give him carte blanche to be this disrespectful.
“Apologies First Uncle,” Zhen Liu said as he cupped his right fist as a show of respect. In that exact same moment, he also placed a certain object that he had been carrying this whole time in the space between his palm and fist.
“If I seem a bit more crass and a tad bit theatrical, it’s because my master had to pull something that was deeply lodged into my head.”
A murmur of confusion spread through the crowd at Zhen Liu’s mysterious tone.
“Master?”
“Head?”
“Namely, this.” Zhen Liu produced with a flourish a jagged metal arrowhead from his hands and presented it to the crowd. He had used this moment of theatrics to see if anyone would have a reaction to what was basically the murder weapon being presented for all to see.
In his past life, he recalled seeing in movies and shows that when the killer of a mystery gets confronted with evidence they tend to twitch or act panicked, present a tell of some sort.
“What’s he holding?”
“Looks like an arrowhead…”
“It looks kinda like a Wolfe Family product?”
“Can’t be, too jagged.”
“Seriously? That’s what y’all think?,” Zhen Liu inwardly grumbled at the crowd’s reaction. But when he subtly glanced at Moka, he noticed that he did seem a bit more nervous.
As he continued to glare, Nepherage’s voice sounded off in his head again.
[My Lord, we found the proof. We’re on our way to the courtyard now.]
[Excellent! Time to bring the truth to light then.]
“Well then,” Zhen Liu said loudly, “since you all seem to doubt me, I might as well tell you my side of the story of my death, and let all of you be the judge.”
The crowd of guests and six elders looked at Zhen Liu, curious as to what his tale was exactly.
