Detective Su Xiao (Part 2)

　　"Tang Ye is Lord San Shen…? I must be Buddha, then!" I thought in my head. I asked, "Do you seriously think Tang Ye is Lord San Shen? You think he's a bad guy?"

　　Su Xiao rested his chin on a finger and pouted: "I don't know. We're brothers. He must have his reasons. His background story might be true. He might really be after information on the Shangri-La ma.s.sacre. For as long as he's been with us, he's never crossed the boundary, which is enough to prove our brotherhood isn't just a charade. I don't think he's hatching any evil plans."

　　"Wait, wait, Xiao, you're missing something… Lord San Shen is arguably quite famous in the pugilistic world, and he established himself a long time ago. Tang Ye is only eighteen. Don't you think the numbers don't match up?"

　　"Oh, true that," realised Su Xiao, nodding. "In other words, you're suggesting he can reverse aging? Ew! Do I have to call him Uncle Tang?"

　　'I just want to face palm myself right now… Does your brain grow in circles and loops or something?!'

　　"No, think about it. His Majesty saw Lord San Shen at Feiyun Hall. Tang Ye was right beside him at the time. Wasn't he also by His Majesty's side during the Orange Prince's revolt? Don't forget he was also injured. How could he be Lord San Shen?"

　　"Hmph, don't treat me as if I'm an idiot. I exhaustively a.n.a.lysed it already," griped Su Xiao, puffing his cheeks. "They aren't called Demon Sect for nothing. I'm sure he has a secret technique of some sort, you know, such as Appearance Alteration, Bone Alignment…"

　　"It's Bone Reconfiguration. Bone Alignment is used in ma.s.sage."

　　"Fine, whatever floats your boat. Hmph, you know them well, don't you? I wonder if you've been a demon before."

　　… I was forced to react with a workplace smile…

　　"Great, you made me forget what I was going to say," complained Su Xiao, pulling a funny face. He then used his fingers to keep count as he continued, "Appearance Alteration, Bone Reconfiguration, Clone Technique and Psychic Communication are all methods that allow one to go under the radar. I bet they're unbelievably skilled, as well. I think Tang Ye's injury was pretence. Think about it: what better tactic is there than using a clone to defeat an opponent whilst pretending to be injured? Yep, I knew it. He feigned injury but was actually fighting."

　　I was speechless. If somebody wasn't feeding him all the ideas, then…

　　"Also…" Su Xiao folded his arms and looked serious: "The compet.i.tion with Jin w.a.n.gsun was also quite suspicious."

　　'You're suspicious of me, aren't you?! Lord San Shen wasn't there to fight Jin w.a.n.gsun, yet Su Xiao can link it back to me?!'

　　Su Xiao waved a hand: "Lord San Shen's presence is only a superficial trick. The Seven Champion Princes claim there are never any problems under their leaders.h.i.+p. How do they explain Vice-Captain's pinch in their territory? Most importantly, I have two pieces of evidence to justify my suspicions."