If I cannot sleep with Northern Qiaofeng, can I not sleep with Southern Murong?

If I can't sleep with Qiao Feng of the North, can't I even sleep with Murong of the South?

As soon as these words were spoken, the gazes cast upon him by the various Beggars' Sect elders and branch leaders were filled with utter shock.

They truly could not believe that this unsolved case, delayed for two full years, had actually been thoroughly investigated and solved by Zhang Fang! It seemed that at the time Ma Dayuan was murdered, this You Tanzhi was merely an idle young master idling his time away at the Gathering Hero Manor, wasn't he?

By the time he arrived at the Beggars' Sect, all clues had likely been completely covered up by the culprit.

Just how on earth had he managed to uncover the true identity of the murderer under such circumstances?

Naturally, the hearts of the Beggars' Sect elders and branch leaders were filled with great anticipation, but Bai Shijing, among them, had a wandering gaze, his heart pounding with anxiety, wishing he could immediately find an excuse to slip away.

Yet he knew that slipping away now would only make him look like a thief with a guilty conscience.

Left with no other choice, he had no option but to brace himself and stay, sitting idly to await Zhang Fang's pronouncement of the death sentence.

At that moment, Zhang Fang's deep voice rang out: "Azi!"

"I am right here!" Accompanied by a delicate female voice, Azi, who had been guarded by two Beggars' Sect disciples, stepped forward to the vicinity of Zhang Fang in the center of the arena. She blinked at him and said, "I wonder what instructions Leader You has?"

"I am not yet the leader, you mustn't address me randomly," Zhang Fang reminded her, simultaneously demonstrating his modest and refined attitude to everyone present, before immediately steering the conversation back on track: "Right here in front of all our senior members of the Beggars' Sect, recount everything you saw and heard that day from beginning to end, leaving nothing out."

Hearing this, Azi hesitated slightly: "However, I'm afraid..."

Afraid my foot!

The reason she was putting on such a weak, pitiful, and helpless act was actually something she had pre-arranged with Zhang Fang.

Well-prepared, Zhang Fang did not wait for her to finish speaking, but directly interrupted: "You have nothing to be afraid of. As long as you speak the truth, just go ahead and speak. Right and wrong will naturally be thoroughly investigated by us after you finish. And before you finish speaking, no one will interrupt your testimony or prevent you from telling the truth."

Having said this, his gaze swept over the surrounding elders and branch leaders one by one, and he asked with a slightly smiling tone, "Senior members, am I right?"

"That's right!" As soon as Zhang Fang's voice fell, Wu Changfeng immediately chimed in loudly on the other side: "In our Beggars' Sect, loyalty and righteousness come first, and this is the most reasonable place in the pugilistic world. Regardless of whether what this young girl says is true or false, we will at least listen to her finish, and then carefully verify and confirm all the facts."

"We will never hold any prejudice because of her background, nor will we listen to only one side of the story!"

Well said!

In his heart, Zhang Fang secretly gave Elder Wu a thumbs-up. With an attitude like yours, you fully deserve to be my deputy leader! Within a month, I'll find an opportunity to appoint you!

The power of a role model is infinite.

Following the sound of Elder Wu's words, the other elders and branch leaders also expressed their stances one after another, choosing to support Zhang Fang's perspective. Among them, the reactions of the branch leaders from the various sub-divisions were even more pronounced than those of the main division elders.

After all, they had previously backed the wrong horse, and now Yan Shanhe had not only suffered defeat, but his true identity as Murong of Gusu had also been exposed. Consequently, they didn't even have the opportunity to continue uniting several sub-divisions to contend with the main division on equal terms.

If they didn't actively show their stance of abandoning the dark and turning to the light right now, were they waiting for You Tanzhi to succeed as leader and slowly settle scores with them?

Seeing that everyone had finished expressing their stances, Azi finally "gathered her courage" and spoke aloud the lines previously adapted by Zhang Fang: "Seven days ago, as I was being pursued all the way by Zhai Xingzi and the others, I was truly unbearably hungry and happened to pass by the Ma residence, so I planned to sneak inside and steal a little something to eat. Unexpectedly, inside the Ma residence, I accidentally overheard a conversation between three people..."

Naturally, the opening content was made up on the spot, because matters concerning main quests were simply impossible to explain to plot characters. As for the subsequent dialogue, it was an embellished and adapted version by Zhang Fang. On top of the premise that the three of them conspired to push "Yan Shanhe" onto the throne of the Wulin Alliance Leader, he added the detail of their prior plot to murder Ma Dayuan.

Simply put, that Ma Dayuan was murdered through the joint conspiracy of Kang Min, Quan Guanqing, and Murong Fu. First, he was poisoned with the "Ten-Fragrance Soul-Bewitching Powder" administered by Madam Ma, and subsequently killed by Murong Fu using his most proficient "Throat-Seizing Grappling Technique".

They even conspired to shift the blame onto Qiao Feng.

As for the specific details of how they operated, they had not brought them up again during their secret talk, so Azi had "not heard" them.

Following that, Azi's narrative returned to the truth. Upon hearing those unspeakable, strange noises, as an innocent girl unschooled in worldly matters, she panicked and accidentally knocked over a pot on the windowsill, startling the people inside.

Being timid and fearful, she immediately chose to flee in a fright, but before leaving, she clearly saw the appearances of the two shirtless men rushing out from the room—they were precisely Quan Guanqing and Murong Fu!

Hearing this, Murong Fu, who was already bound hand and foot, was instantly boiling with rage, wanting to open his mouth to refute, but the words reached his lips before he felt a sudden sweetness in his throat, and he couldn't help spitting out another large mouthful of fresh blood.

At this moment, Zhang Fang stepped forward, spread his hands, and said, "As for what happened afterward, I presume everyone already knows. After fleeing the Ma residence, Azi was roasting fish by the river and happened to run into Elder Wu and the others. Believing by mistake that Elder Wu and the others were also in league with Madam Ma, Quan Guanqing, and Yan Shanhe, she resorted to poisoning to protect herself, nearly killing Elder Wu and a dozen brothers."

"However, this matter can be discussed later. The most urgent task right now is still to ascertain the truth of Azi's words and the truth behind the murder of Deputy Leader Ma!"

Hearing Zhang Fang's explanation, everyone could not help nodding in unison. It indeed seemed somewhat unreasonable for the isolated Azi to dare poison Elder Wu and the others under those circumstances; if the facts were as she stated, it suddenly became much more reasonable.

Immediately afterward, everyone's gazes fell in unison upon the three individuals: Quan Guanqing, Murong Fu, and Kang Min.

Seeing this, Kang Min abruptly stepped forward, laughed loudly, and said, "Hahaha... How laughable, simply hilarious. Elder You, do you seriously rely solely on the one-sided words of this little vixen from the Star Sect to conclude that I conspired with Elder Quan to murder my late husband, and even attempt to smear this young woman's innocence? Don't you think this judgment is far too hasty and rash?"

"Rash? I don't think so at all." Since Zhang Fang dared to accuse the other party, he had naturally made thorough preparations. He sneered as he stepped forward and said, "Madam Ma, you added a small amount of the 'Ten-Fragrance Soul-Bewitching Powder' into the cup of wine you gave me earlier, didn't you?"

"Previously, in order to retain evidence, I made the excuse of keeping the cup, intending to ask Elder Xue to examine it after the decisive battle. Having left such a huge flaw behind, I truly cannot fathom what gives you such confidence that you still dare to quibble shamelessly before me!"

What kind of person was Madam Ma? She was also a veteran mastermind.

Hearing Zhang Fang's words, she showed no fear and retorted tit-for-tat: "Even though the Divine Doctor Xue is a person of noble character and high prestige, he is, after all, You Tanzhi's elder. Helping you frame the rest of us might be beneath his dignity, but it is not entirely impossible!"

"Well said." Zhang Fang stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling upon the maidservant who was still holding the wine pot nearby: "It's a pity you were far too confident, actually leaving that drugged pot of wine at the scene until now."

"I presume there must still be plenty of poisoned wine left in the pot?"

"In fact, it might not even be necessary for Elder Xue to take action. We only need any person whom everyone trusts to drink all the wine in the pot and then test whether they can circulate their internal energy to know for sure."

"Anyway, this poison is not fatal, and with Elder Xue present, there is even less need to worry about any accidents happening to anyone."

Hearing Zhang Fang put it this way, the expression on Kang Min's face finally changed.

At this moment, Elder Wu spoke up: "Let me test the quality of this wine!" With that, he stepped forward to drink.

"Wait!"

Zhang Fang quickly stopped him: "Elder Wu has always had a good relationship with me; if you are the one to test the wine, it will inevitably give people grounds for gossip. We must find someone whom everyone trusts, someone who has at least no personal friendship with me whatsoever, to try it so that it commands public confidence."

Hearing that Zhang Fang had blocked even the excuse she had just thought of, Kang Min suddenly burst into loud laughter once more. After laughing for a while, her gaze abruptly turned venomous, and she said in a deep voice, "That's right, Ma Dayuan was indeed murdered by me. But all of this was caused by that Qiao Feng!"

Following that, she stated her bizarre theory—that because Qiao Feng refused to give her a second look, she wanted to destroy him—right in front of everyone present.

Finally, she cast her icy gaze upon the nearby Murong Fu, who was still coughing up blood: "Hehe, in this lifetime of mine, Kang Min, if I can't sleep with Qiao Feng of the North, can't I even sleep with Murong of the South?"