302 Too Many Coincidences

After confirming that the matter was not serious, the atmosphere between the two of them was not so tense.

Lin Ran put Star Splitter behind him and sized up Guyue Dao. He probed, “Since you’re Xuan Wushang’s advisor, why didn’t you stay in the palace? Why did you come to such a place?”

“This is His Majesty’s order.”

Guyue Dao said with a helpless expression, “A while ago, a craftsman in the city forged three hundred famous sabers in three days. His Majesty was overjoyed and sent me to send a famous saber from the palace for the craftsmen to study.”

“Just one saber? Xuan Wushang is really stingy!”

Lin Ran sneered. Suddenly, his expression changed slightly as he thought of something. “You just said that… Xuan Wushang asked you to send a famous saber over?”

Guyue Dao nodded slightly. Lin Ran asked, “What’s the name of that saber?”

“Black Shadow.”

Guyue Dao said without thinking, “Sixteenth in the Great Yong Dynasty’s famous saber rank.”

Lin Ran’s expression immediately changed. After a few seconds, he continued to ask, “When did you arrive at the Iron City?”

“Does it have anything to do with you?”

Guyue Dao frowned with displeasure. “Not only are you hiding and pretending to be someone else, but now you even start interrogating me.”

“Cut the crap! Answer me!”

Lin Ran shouted anxiously, his expression solemn. “When did you arrive? This is very important!”

Guyue Dao looked at Lin Ran suspiciously, not knowing why this was important, but he still replied, “I received an imperial edict the night before yesterday and arrived at Golden Tang City yesterday morning.”

“Yesterday morning?”

Lin Ran’s eyes flickered as a bold idea popped up in his mind—

If the Black Shadow Saber had been stored in the Iron City all this time, there would be nothing suspicious about this matter. However, the truth was that the Black Shadow Saber had only been delivered here yesterday morning. Almost immediately after that, Liu Hongshan brought Lin Ran here to get the saber.

The two things were so closely connected that Lin Ran would never believe that there was no conspiracy.

Thinking of this, Lin Ran recalled that Liu Hongshan also looked strange in the forest.

At that time, Lin Ran only asked Liu Hongshan for a famous saber because he wanted to fleece him. In the end, Liu Hongshan agreed so readily that Lin Ran found it unbelievable.

Even though the Black Shadow Saber was already in his hands, when Lin Ran thought about it again, he still felt like it was strange.

Lin Ran took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Then, he went through everything that had happened in the past few days in chronological order. A deduction that he couldn’t understand but was highly likely appeared—

Xuan Wushang seemed to have gone to such an extent to just hand the Black Shadow Saber to him.

Even Lin Ran himself felt that this deduction was impossible.

Firstly, there was no need for Xuan Wushang to give him anything. Secondly, even if he had to give it to him, he could just ask Liu Hongshan to give it to him. Why did he have to lure him to the Iron City in such a roundabout way?

“It seems that I have to look for Liu Hongshan again.”

Lin Ran put away Star Splitter and prepared to return to the city.

“Wait a minute!”

Guyue Dao shouted and frowned at Lin Ran. “You’ve asked me so many questions and now you want to leave without saying a word?”

Lin Ran glanced at Guyue Dao and sighed helplessly. “It’s better if you don’t ask. I won’t tell you even if you ask, and we’ll eventually fight.”

Guyue Dao’s expression darkened. “So what if we fight? I know you’re hiding your realm, but I’m a seventh level grandmaster. If I attack with all my might, who will win…”

Before he could say the words “is uncertain”, Guyue Dao felt a powerful aura from Lin Ran. That aura was so much stronger than his that he couldn’t tell what realm Lin Ran was in!

Guyue Dao’s face turned pale. Lin Ran retracted his aura and said calmly, “If you continue to pester me, you will definitely die in my hands.”

With that, Lin Ran disappeared into the distance with a few flashes. Guyue Dao looked in the direction he left in a daze. For a long time, he was still in a state of shock.

In the city, near the Ye family.

Sun Ge hid in the shadows in the corner with a few men in black. The surroundings were quiet, as if even the wind did not dare to make a sound.

Looking at the empty street and the Ye family in the distance, a man in black couldn’t help but ask softly, “Brother Sun, it’s been fifteen minutes. Did that Senior win?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Sun Ge patted the man. “Senior Guyue is a grandmaster. He can flatten the Iron City with a wave of his hand. How can he lose?”

That person rubbed his head and said aggrievedly, “But it’s been so long. Why isn’t there any movement?”

“Well…”

Sun Ge did not know how to answer because it had indeed taken too long.

He naturally believed in Guyue Dao, but the situation was a little too strange.

“Brother Sun, there is something I’ve been hesitating to say…”

The man in black who had been scolded just now said, “The more I think about it, the more I feel that something is wrong. Do you think the two of them are in cahoots?”

Sun Ge frowned. “What do you mean?”

That man hesitated for a moment and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “Huo Qiyun got into that carriage and the two of them disappeared. I was wondering… if they worked together to steal the Black Shadow Saber and wanted to pin the blame on us.”

Sun Ge’s expression changed when he heard this.

If it were any other time, he would definitely not believe such nonsense, but now that Guyue Dao and Lin Ran were both gone, he found what his subordinate said made sense.

“Oh no!”

Sun Ge slapped his thigh and jumped out of the shadows. “We’ve been tricked! Don’t just stand there. Follow me!”

With that, Sun Ge unsheathed his saber and was about to leave when he turned around and saw a familiar figure slowly walking over from the street. It was “Huo Qiyun”, whom he suspected of stealing the Black Shadow Saber!