Green Lion Valley had a bit of chaos.

“HYAAAA! HYAAA! DIE WOMAN! DIIIIIE!...Hey, Martial Kim! Don’t just stand there like a piece of plywood with a smiley face – come and help me kill this woman!”

“...In a bit.”

“Now damn it!”

The investigators were not murdering anyone out of the blue – rest assured. They did have a good reason why they tried to use various means of method acting to get into that sort of mind set.

Was Fae Fae killed by One Mystery person? Or two Palanquin Bearers?

Once the prisoners had been secured in the Constabulary prison, Inspector Lee took it upon himself to use every means necessary to try and prove they were the cold blooded killers. So he acted the role as one of the Palanquin Bearers, simulating what and how the two would end up stabbing their ‘goddess’ five times in the heart.

Of course, his ‘accomplice’ was Martial Kim playing as bearer number 2.

And what better way to envision the murder than back at the crime scene, where Fae Fae’s body was found.

So the Investigators worked together to re-play the potential murder, kneeling and making gestures of grabbing arms and ankles as if pinning a human down. Or in this case a certain women.

“Ha-ha!” Inspector Lee laughed as he pinned the ‘hands’. “We have you now woman! You’re our plaything for the WHOLE night! Resistance, is futile! Bwahahaha!...Okay no, this doesn’t make a lick of sense!”

“Indeed,” Martial Kim, “My knees are going numb from holding down our victim. Surely you think the Palanquin Bearers would have scars or impressions on their knees no?”

“No! It’s the fact both men have their hands full – so where did they put out a third arm between them to stab her six times!?”

Martial Kim hummed, “I can think of many ways to be honest, however all of those techniques in my mind could only be used by trained martial artist and wushu specialists. Not only can they grapple with their hands, they can also strike with a twist of their body, elbow, or kick. Not even Palanquin Bearers could brute force this.”

“Oh gods. First possible assassins, now kung fu masters!?” Inspector Lee then had an idea cross his mind, “Hey, Martial Kim. You don’t think those guys are crouching tigers hidden dragons right? Masters hiding in plain sight as normal people? I mean, martial artists often do part time jobs right? I mean, your Moon Tavern practically hire them as chefs and waiters.”

“True, and I took the opportunity to check their internal strength and Meridians while healing them. I can say for sure, they lack zero martial arts training. Scientifically. And, if either of them were really experts – they only need one man to lift the palanquin with two hands. No need for two burly men.”

“Baaaaah!” Inspector Lee bolted to his feet, kicking the dust, “Now you’re making me start all over again. Damn it!...Alright, how about this: one of them grabbed Fae Fae by the wrist, held them up and dangle her on or above her feet, and the second stabbed her six times.”

Martial Kim took a moment to think about this, “Fae Fae showed zero signs of struggle. I triple checked, not so much as a punch, slap, scratch to the face. Finger nails clean. The only ‘wounds’ I saw, were either the six stab wounds or her swollen hands.”

He took a deep breath to add, “Heaven forbid. If the ordeal did involved forced rape, not only did she show no sign of being violated, her wrists and ankles show no evidence of being restrained.”

“...Right.” Inspector Lee wiped a hand over his face with a groan. “Ah, by the way. How are Fae Fae’s hands?”

“Oh much better, now that I was able to isolate a proper antidote. See, even my own hands have near recovered!”

“Good, good!.. Hey, Martial Kim. You don’t happen to have more or that cream for uh Dead Butt whatever right? You know since we’re here and all, in case we need it. I mean, there’s a LOT of those black puddle and dead lumber around if you get me.”

Martial Kim held back the urge to laugh, “Deadwood worm. Just, so long as you don’t touch anything you should be fine.”

“You bet your kung fu ass I ain’t touching anything here.” Inspector Lee took a moment to walk around just staring and kicking a foot through the grass to see if he can find anything. Suddenly he snapped his fingers in realization. “Hey that’s it! Okay, say the Palanquin Bearers were right – a third party was involved. Someone could have hired a fighter from the martial arts world, and had them stabbed Fae Fae six times. They got the speed and strength right?”

Martial Kim didn’t say anything.

Instead, he let his actions speak louder than his words. Martial Kim used his [White Tiger Flying Snow] to gather his internal energy into his palm in the form of a growing needle of snow and ice. With a precise flick of his finger – like throwing away a cigarette – he fired the needle through the air.

It shot through a tree nearby. It didn’t explode or tip over. It only left a clean hole for Inspector Lee to spy through like a peep hole.

One shot, one kill.

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Inspector Lee mumbled.

He was half mad and half sarcastic in his response. To be honest, he should have saw this coming. And it made sense, martial experts could chop a tree down with even a dull sword let alone waste energy with multiple stabs.

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Inspector Lee muttered as he paced about, “Six stabs, hairpin, no defensive wounds, swollen hands—Baaaaah! Come! There has to be some logical explanation! What, did Fae Fae really stood there and shout come at me – and let some stranger try and mutilate her!?

The young master in the hanbok didn’t know what to say – wait, maybe he did know what to say!

“Inspector. I need to try something.”

“Huh? Sure what is it—OH SH—”

Martial Kim LUNGED at his companion at full speed!

He dove straight in to throw hands with the Inspector, delivering lightning fast punches and knee jabs. None of his strikes were lethal, rather they were nothing more than light pushes. He poured all energy into speed over impact, to avoid injuring his companion.

Inspector Lee struggled. He was a basic martial artist as most, decent enough to grab and bag bad guys in the streets. Wandering the great martial arts world with flying swords and hidden dragon cultivation however – nah, way above his paygrade.

So it was obvious he struggled to try and block and catch Martial Kim’s attacks.

To finish it, the young master of Moon Tavern tapped his finger onto Inspector Lee’s key meridian in the chest. He used a [Soul Point Block] maneuver to inject some spiritual energy into vital nerve points to cause a paralysis like effect on the officer on the spot. Because the last strike came as a surprise, it froze the Inspector in an...awkward pose.

“Hey now, let’s talk this out!” Inspector Lee choked in panic, “Whatever you do, don’t you DARE tickle me!”

“You instinctively dodged, even tried to counter me,” Martial Kim explained the experiment, “Especially when are are close enough friends.”

“Like duh! The last thing I want is my ass flying over my head and...Wait wait hold up,” Inspector Lee tried to wave a hand, but everything except his eyes and lips were essentially frozen, “Instinct took over the second you came at me. I automatically defended myself. Meaning—”

“Fight or flight,” Martial Kim would announce as he nodded in agreement, “Fae Fae only had two choices. Even if her mind couldn’t decide, surely her body would. Clearly she didn’t fight...but why did she not flee?”

Inspector Lee could only roll his eyes in place of moving his head while thinking, then he answered, “...She knew them? B-but it still makes no sense!”

“Remove the flame of impossibility. Whatever ashes left behind, no matter how unlikely it may be – must be the cold hard truth,” Martial Kim said with confidence, “We always thought Fae Fae was attacked by a complete stranger. Even if it was the Palanquin Bearers, surely she would have put up some form of resistance or just run away. Yet her body proved she didn’t defend herself and she ‘died’ where she stood. Stabbed six times...”

Inspector Lee furrowed his brow, unable to believe what he was about to say, “Sh-she let someone kill her?”

“Or,” Martial Kim interjected with a thoughtful pause, “She knew her killer so well, this act of betrayal came as a complete shock to her. Stunning her entirely to be stabbed six times.”

“...Something doesn’t add up—AND GET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN HEX!”

Martial Kim went ‘oh right’ before he tapped his fingers across key meridian points to undo his [Soul Point Block]. In a blink, Inspector Lee ‘unfroze’ and stumbled to regain his balance. He threw a punch gesture at Martial Kim’s direction as revenge before adjusting his clothing to calm down.

“Okay okay,” The Inspector sorted out his brain, “Say I stabbed you. Obviously you be surprised from the first hit. Surely you would move away before I go in for stab two, or even three. It’s only natural to dodge – but to let someone stab her six times. The last one went right through bone! I mean, what the hell kind of shock was she going through to die like that! Flop over like a rag doll riddled with holes?”

“In my experience, there have been people who were so shocked with the truth, they’ve had extreme reactions such as: blacking out, partial or even full memory loss, development of a split personality, or being in a daze for months if not years.” Martial Kim sighed, rubbing his hand over his forehead under his hat, “Fae Fae must have known this killer so intimatel, being stabbed six times was the last thing she would expect of this person.”

“The Palanquin Bearers!” Inspector Lee went right back to his square one, “Got to be them. They’ve been serving her for a while, so deranged they literally ignore all other customers and wait just for her. That’s stalking levels! Surely in their unrequited love romance whatever they be crazy enough to try and keep Fae Fae for themselves – even in death! Surely them trying to rape and or kill her would be shock enough!”

Martial Kim took a minute, pinching his nose bridge to quickly go over the list of suspects.

Palanquin Bearers (against his objections; Mama-san (???); Brothel Owner (perhaps a pure bully?); Fae Fae’s Brother (possibly, but has alibi)

Now he tried to connect them to the possibility of pinning it on the Palanquin Bearers, even burning their Palanquin.

The bearers framing themselves would make no sense; Mama-san has worked in Celestial Dreams since she started as a young Brothel Girl and has little connections outside of the entertainment circle, so wouldn’t hire assassins (plus she stated she loved Fae Fae, so why this grand of murder?); Brothel Owner has been noted to be cheap, unlikely to spend money to clean up loose ends...

Fae Fae’s Brother?

He did come in with a lot of money, from sources unknown. Given him going in and out of shady places like any and all gambling dens, drawing so many debts from gangs and criminal loan sharks, there could be a chance there was some conspiracy amongst them and that involved using underworld connections to get the job done? Maybe?

Hiring someone to pin the blame away from him would be likely but...But the alibi alone is more than enough. Why go the extra mile, or trouble, to pin the murder on two random people and destroy evidence?

Inspector Lee noticed the long silence from his partner. With a groan, he rolled his eyes and marched over to put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Alright fine. Let’s say the Palanquin Bearers are really innocent and some other person of higher influence hired people to clean up loose ends. Who the hell would stand to gain from all this? I mean not to insult Fae Fae, but she IS a Courtesan in their eyes. Why all this trouble?”

“...Why indeed.” Martial Kim nodded as he thought back to the second scene of the crime outside of North Cloud City, having examined the ruined evidence, “The palanquin that was burnt to a crisp. Now that I think about it, the scent it left behind reminds me of a more fancy oil that released flames at higher temperature. The type that could incinerate bone to ashes... I can think of a few rogue guilds or martial art sects who use that brand of oil. However, I also see no benefit they would gain from getting their hands dirty like this.”

“True and...Oh, oh?” Inspector Lee turned around, “I think here comes our answer galloping from yonder.”

The sound of gallop rang into the air, coming louder and louder.

A colourful horse made out of animated cloth and coats came galloping up to the investigators. Riding in was Martial Yellow Sister, who pulled at the ribbon reigns to make her ‘horse’ slow down to a skid. She hopped off, the horse melted into regular robes and strips of cloth to coil around Martial Yellow Sister’s body and sleeves.

She flexed a hand through her messy blonde hair, ignoring the eyebags she had on her face.

“Gentlemen,” she quipped as she hobbled over with her cane, “For my presentation, I will be talking about the identity of STAR and FORT and its history. Please hold your questions after the presentation – and give me a god damn passing grade!”