“My. What a turn of events this has become.”

“With all due respect Martial Kim, please don’t rub salt into our wounds.”

Martial Red Sister called in reinforcement in the form of a single young master.

Martial Kim. The moment he received the dove he grabbed the fastest horse available in the Capital and rushed his way to meet up with his companions. Although it took a day, Martial Blue Sister and Martial Red Sister did not sit by idle to wait for rescue of this predicament. To make sure they took advantage of the limited time they had, they went around gathering information.

Once all three party members were united they officially begun the investigation of Lady Peony’s death.

Starting at Mutiny Hill.

Martial Kim would stride through the soft mud paths and politely step aside the many ancient and recent corpses that filled the grounds and pit falls. Even in the thick fog he seem to know exactly where to approach without dropping into a quick sand made of mud or a barricade of corpses.

“I feel responsible for putting you both in this situation,” Martial Kim would speak up while waving the sleeve of his hanbok to push aside the fog. “I may have been too hasty, excited even, when such an elaborate missing person’s case arrived. Then again, I wonder if this is all planned by the fates and the gods.”

“Or a divine prank,” Martial Red Sister would mumble as she tucked on her kimono sleeves from dipping into the mud on the floor. “Martial Blue Sister and I got a makeshift report. The—”

Martial Kim held up a hand to stop the report, for two reasons. One, he found something. He would dip into a bush and pull out what appeared to be a hat made bamboo strips. The center had a hole, allowing a ponytail or hair bun to sit through, and a series of silk veils draped over the rims like a curtain to a window.

“Jade Queen Silk. Only nobles can afford this sort of elegant material.” He whispered as he examined the mud stained bamboo hat “My guess this belonged to Lady Peony, before she fell and got tangled up in the jungle of bodies, yes?”

“Y-yes.” Martial Blue Sister squeaked in the conversation. “About 10 paces from here was where she...grabbed me and we found her out here.”

Martial Kim nod. Now he gave the second reason why he stopped Martial Red Sister’s report. He turned to Martial Blue Sister, all the while pressing the expensive silk curtain hat like a fan against his chest.

“Martial Blue Sister,” he called to get his companion’s attention. “Please, share with me what is on your mind. I know you wouldn’t cause this much ruckus without good grounds. Have faith in your instincts, they have yet to let you down. Oh, and by all means ignore Martial Red Sister rolling her eyes, it’s just her habit. I would like to listen to your opinion about all this.”

Martial Blue Sister didn’t like to be part of group conversations. She was always weak when it comes to sharing and supporting an idea, to the point where she gives up halfway and says never mind. She knew it, Martial Kim knew it. So being put on the spot, forced her to gather her wits and just say it without filter.

“It all happened too quick. From finding Lady Peony, to her vanishing, and then ending up dead. It-it hadn’t been a day and all these series of events just rolled out like a scroll map.” Martial Blue Sister pulled at her sleeves to push the last thoughts out of her chest. “There’s something to deliberate in all this. That’s what has been bugging me the whole time. Like it was all...set up.”

Martial Kim hummed at the thought, tapping the dirty veiled bamboo hat to his chin like a paper fan. Once that was out of the way, he gestured Martial Red Sister to give an overall report.

Lady Peony was an adventurous spirit.

Nearly every day she spent her days leaving the Silver Clan manor to go exploring within the Silver Vein Valley, meet travelers on the road and giving them directions, or fighting off bandits in the mountains.

Every time, she would come back well before supper. If not punctual, she was never later for food.

That was up until a month ago. She ran into some scholars who were being attacked by bandits on the road. In saving them, she got slashed in the face and received a terrible scar. Even with a great doctor’s help, the scar remained and she began feeling conscious about it.

Since then she never left her room, let alone leave the manor. She pretty much shut herself in from the shame, guilt, and embarrassment over the scar. The stress was worse when she was arranged to be married to the Young Master of the Amber family in a few weeks time.

It was the day she disappeared did she finally came out into broad daylight.

Early that morning, she picked up some food at the kitchen before heading out of the manor. The servants, towns people, even the soldiers guarding the town entrance, were all shocked to see Lady Peony heading out after what happened.

Everyone had hoped she came around and started to mentally recover. Hopes were high for her.

No one expected that Lady Peony would fail to return before supper, first time in her life. Even the next day and the next supper, there was still no sign of her.

The Chieftess immediately sent her soldiers to search for her, high and low in the Silver Vein Valleys. When they failed to turn up any news, she put out a call into the martial world and placed up missing posters with a hefty reward to call on talents to find her beloved sister.

Moon Tavern happened to be one of those wandering talents, and somehow won the lottery.

“Hmm.” Martial Kim would tap Lady Peony’s hat against his chin with a musing sound. “No doubt she left the manor wearing this veil, to hide the scar.”

“Personally,” Martial Red Sister would snort. “The quality of a woman’s beauty is their lifeline. Face, hair, if not body. Lose any one and it’s better to just off yourself.”

“Now, now, Martial Red Sister,” Martial Kim waved the bamboo hat in place of his hand. “You got to give Lady Peony some credit. It takes a lot of courage to accept the cards you’ve been dealt and walk into the sun with pride about it. I commend her bravery in taking the initiative towards self-recovery.”

Martial Blue Sister covered her cold hands with her sleeves, “Lady Peony knew martial arts.” She expected everyone to give her a weird look given the conversation, but she said even if she had to avoid judging eye contact. “I-I learned that Lady Peony wanted to be like her sister, a martial cultivator, so she had been taking lessons from a teacher who practiced the, uh, [Snake in the Sleeve Dagger Arts].”

She then added, “Lady Peony’s instructor is very strict when it comes to physical training. Given his discipline and tract record, Lady Peony’s level should be capable of flipping a horse wagon with a kick. Or even leap over a house in a single bound. Yet, it took both Martial Red Sister and I to pull her out of the pit of corpses.”

“Little blue,” Martial Red Sister muttered under her breath. “You don’t remember what Lady Peony said? She was left to starve and thirst for days. Did you not see how much junk she ate back in Mutiny Inn?”

“I feel there is something wrong with the logic.”

“Noted.” Martial Kim would nod. Before he could ask another question--

BOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooommmmmmmmm.....

A deafening sound like the howl of a cannon over the horizon echoed into the dark sky. It did not take long before a swarm of birds turned the sky blacker as they all caw and squawk in panic in the distance.

Martial Kim would examine the flow of the bird and calculate the direction of where they left. “Something happened back in the Silver Clan Manor?”

“Ah. Probably the rage quit queen, the Chieftess,” Martial Red Sister shrugged. “Woman has a temper of a marriage between a bickering sun and unhappy volcano. She is a user of the [God Phantom Eyes]. Given her level, if not the sound of her destruction, I believe she is practising the blast variation of her ability. The one where you can blink and crush someone under a pocket of gravity from afar. If she masters that, so long as she has a telescope she could have the sky sit on anyone within line of sight with a flutter of her eyelash.”

Dear god.

“A truly frightening, if not frustrating power to conquer,” Martial Kim would note as he watched the swarm of birds flew above their heads like smoke in the wind. “Not recommended for those who lack patience to endure countless of mistakes and failures. And as it involves controlling emotion to influence another’s emotion, anyone with a natural affinity towards aggression would have the same trouble as taming a wild bull with bare hands.”

After hearing another thunderous explosion over the horizon, Martial Kim added, “I would not be surprised if she blew up half a mountain to release that bottled up rage in her chest.”

“Hah. Tip of the iceberg, wait till you meet her charming husband. The Deputy.”

“Oh yes. The [Thunder Leopard Sabre Art].” Martial Kim would pat Martial Blue sister on the shoulder to console her. “Should have went ‘nah, I’d win’ to put him off kilter.”

“I don’t want to explode and disappear as steam!” Martial Blue Sister yelped at the comment.

Martial Red Sister took a moment to play with her red hair bangs, “Mr. Deputy is all work and probably has no clue what play even means. As I mentioned in the letter, he tried to execute all the people he arrested without a proper trial or internal investigation. Kinda sus if you ask me.”

“Indeed, Martial Red Sister,” Martial Kim nodded back, “But I would hold off pointing fingers, or else we will follow his footsteps and jump to conclusions. What potential suspects do we have?”

“North Cloud Shipping Company hands down,” Martial Red Sister would answer without a shadow of a doubt. “Lady Peony was found in one of their cargo and the seal was not broken. Little Blue and I thought one of the shipping guards was one of Lady Peony’s secret lovers and planned a great escape.”

“B-but.” Martial Blue Sister stepped forward to add, “They swore on their family’s honour, even their ancestor’s graves, they never knew the victim in the first place. Their package were already sealed and prepared for them to escort, they never picked up anything else along the way – as it was per their regulations to avoid questionable packages. How it ended up with one of them holding Lady Peony’s corpse is a key mystery in all this.”

“As for everyone else in Mutiny Inn. Clean, up to this point. Everyone had different reason for staying at the inn, all travelers, scholars on the way to an Imperial Examination, merchants – completely harmless people.”

Martial Kim thought it over before asking, “And the family? As much of a tragedy this is among blood kin, we cannot rule them out right now.”

“Seriously?” Martial Red Sister raised an eyebrow with sarcasm. “I honestly can’t see Miss Rage Quit off her sister like that. She practically turned the entire mansion a living hell the moment she heard of Lady Peony’s death. I mean, she gave the order to her husband the Deputy to off the prisoners without question.” She took a moment to think careful, just in case, “I think she is more likely to trade all the household staff, her soldiers, her husband, family fortune, even her 20 years of mana cultivation – just to exchange Lady Peony’s life back to the living.”

She then went onto the next person, “As for Mr. Grumpy Deputy, I honestly see zero reason or benefit as to why he would try and kill Lady Peony. He is the head of Silver Clan security, the leader of the estate soldiers. Yes; he is a bit of a paper tiger in front of his wife, being nothing more than her Wing Chun dummy. The man barely made a peep when she unhinged his jaw, meaning he is smart enough to never back talk to the hand that feeds him. Killing Lady Peony would be signing his death warrant, with nothing to gain.”

“Curioser and curioser,” Martial Kim would hum. “So, the question remains: who killed Lady Peony? And why? I would very much like to find key pieces of this puzzle.”