Yun Ya nodded, swallowed two pills, and continued to rest. After quite some time, the curtain of the King of Wei’s carriage was finally lifted.

Xiao Yan walked out, and although his eyes were still red and swollen, his face had been wiped clean: “I’ll send an urgent message back to the capital and have people investigate Xu An’s family first.” Turning back to see Yun Ya’s deathly pale face, he coughed lightly, “The State Preceptor has also been seriously injured, but the generals are still waiting for our meeting.”

Yun Ya made a sound of acknowledgment and beckoned with his hand. Lu Ming immediately came to support him: “Let’s go.”

In the main tent of the army headquarters, all the high-ranking officials of the Wei army had arrived.

The first straightforward question from everyone was: “Is there still no clue about the assassin’s identity?”

Imperial Judge Wu Chen handed over all of Xu An’s belongings. Xiao Yan examined each item one by one, focusing on the letters inside the cylindrical tube. There were three or four letters in total, all from the Crown Prince inquiring about the eastern campaign of the royal troops. Only one was a reply from Xu An, with just a few lines, seemingly unfinished.

The letters didn’t reveal a single bit of information about the assassination, or even contain any explicit language.

Wu Chen said in a low voice: “Seven years ago, Xu An was recommended to His Majesty by the Crown Prince.”

Even so, it was especially suspicious. Setting aside today’s calamity, one was the Crown Prince, and the other was a close attendant to the monarch. Wasn’t their correspondence too intimate?

After Xiao Yan finished reading the letters, he passed them to others for examination. The reason for opening and examining evidence in front of all the generals was to demonstrate his own innocence. Everyone understood this reason.

The next crucial question was: how could Xu An, with his modest cultivation, assassinate the king?

Helian Jia asked most directly: “What kind of magical item did His Majesty use for protection?”

Xiao Yan gestured with his hand, and a guard came forward with a tray on which rested a scroll.

Yun Ya walked over, took the scroll, and slowly opened it on the desk. It turned out to be a war painting depicting an army fighting against monstrous beasts. The uniform of this army differed from any of the current six kingdoms. Yun Ya lightly brushed his fingers over their battle flag and said softly: “The Haoli Empire.”

This was the flag of the Haoli Empire.

Fighting against the army were more than ten huge, fierce-looking monsters. The painter’s skill was profound, using just a few simple strokes to convey a menacing aura. Facing them were human soldiers and cultivators wielding various weapons, with the ground already stained red with blood.

“This is the Dragon-Slaying Scroll,” Xiao Yan said slowly. “The Haoli Empire devoted the strength of several dynasties to defeat these beasts and gain dominance over the central lands. This painting depicts a battle scene from the expulsion of the monsters. Among all the beasts, the most famous was the dragon.” He pointed to the upper right corner of the scroll. “Here is the illustration of the dragon-slaying feat, which is why this painting is called the ‘Dragon-Slaying Scroll.'”

Yun Ya looked at him without speaking, merely raising an eyebrow, wondering how he knew all this so clearly.

The King of Wei’s protective magical item had always been a secret, with almost no one knowing its form or function. This was one of the measures to ensure the monarch’s safety. Not only was Yun Ya unaware, but even Xiao Yan shouldn’t have known.

Xiao Yan saw the look in his eyes and sighed: “I’ve seen this painting before, but at that time it wasn’t on a scroll, but a pattern that covered Father’s entire body!”

“Just now when Father passed away, the pattern detached itself and reverted to a scroll.”

Xu Guangxiang was surprised: “The Dragon-Piercing Scroll was Father’s protective magical item?”

Xiao Yan’s eyes revealed a reminiscent look: “When I was young and bathing with Father, he once pointed out each figure in the painting and explained them to me one by one. I still remember it to this day.”

He pointed to the area over his heart, his expression growing increasingly grim: “The black dragon’s head was drawn right here on Father.”

Dragon’s head? Yun Ya looked down again and indeed saw a person in the painting thrusting a dagger into the dragon’s eye. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes: “This dagger looks quite familiar!”

The Medicine Master interjected from the side: “This is the very weapon that assassinated His Majesty!”

The hilt of the dagger in the painting had a lotus made of bright gold, with several small rubies embedded as the stamen. The dagger that had just been pulled from the King of Wei’s chest was clearly of the same design, with even the shape of the red jewels in the flower matching exactly!

Helian Jia exclaimed loudly: “What does this mean? Where did that murder weapon go?”

Xiao Yan pointed to the dagger in the painting: “General Helian, you are looking at it.”

Helian Jia’s face changed: “What!”

“Years ago, when I saw the black dragon on Father’s body, there was no dagger piercing its eye.” Xiao Yan took a breath and said, “The dragon-slayer’s hand was empty. At the time, I found it strange and specifically asked Father about it. Father made a joke, saying that as long as the black dragon was alive, having it tattooed on his body would give him the dragon’s power, so how could he kill it?”

“But, just now after the Medicine Master removed the dagger, it transformed into a pattern and became part of the scroll.” Xiao Yan slightly raised his voice, “In my opinion, did Xu An perhaps exploit its nature to return to the original painting?”

This matter was indeed incredulous. Everyone looked at each other, trying to digest this information.

Yun Ya coughed twice, appearing listless: “Why not try it?”

A few moments later, a prisoner from the Kingdom of Yao was brought in. Xu Guangxiang recited the incantation on the scroll, then shook it towards the prisoner.

Indeed, the scroll seemed to soak into water, with its colors and lines floating up and wrapping around the prisoner.

After a few more moments, when they removed his clothes for a closer look, the contents of the painting were indeed attached to the prisoner’s skin like a tattoo, with the black dragon’s head precisely over his heart.

Xu Guangxiang casually drew her long sword and struck at him. Sure enough, the attack was immediately repelled.

Fortunately, she hadn’t used much force, to begin with, otherwise, she might have been injured by the rebound.

This proved that the Dragon-Piercing Scroll’s defensive power hadn’t been damaged.

In the painting, the dragon-slayer held a dagger in his hand.

Xu Guangxiang fingered this dagger, gently nudging it a couple of times, and something extraordinary happened:

It was actually “pulled” out!

Once separated from the tattoo, it transformed into a physical object with weight and three-dimensionality. Even the red jewels on the hilt glinted with bright luster.

“This is an independent magical item, merely sealed within the scroll,” Yun Ya was the first to see through it. “The scroll can be considered its sheath. Normally, the dagger is stored in its sheath, but the composition is so intricate that those unaware could hardly discover it.”

He lightly pressed on the tattoo twice: “The Dragon-Piercing Scroll itself has powerful defensive capabilities. Xu An couldn’t possibly break through using only his true strength, so he had to utilize the dagger. The two were originally a matching set; the Dragon-Piercing Scroll wouldn’t reject the dagger’s approach.”

Xu Guangxiang tried it and found that indeed, when she lightly stabbed the prisoner with the dagger, drawing blood, the Dragon-Piercing Scroll still did not react.

When she brought the dagger close to the dragon-slayer’s hand, sure enough, with a “swoosh,” the dagger was sucked back in, once again becoming part of the tattoo.

So this was the method of the crime.

“The assassin knew the secret of the Dragon-Piercing Scroll and also knew it transformed into a tattoo on Father’s body,” Xiao Yan pressed his forehead. “If we investigate the origin of this magical item and how it came into Father’s possession, we’ll likely have some clues about the assassin’s identity.”