Chapter 36: A Mix of Truth and Lies

“Are you saying he lunged straight out from inside this woodpile?”

Tan Huacong looked at the position of the woodpile, then at the distance between it and the courtyard wall. He seemed to be thinking about something before turning back to ask Chen Pingan.

“Did you climb in through that spot?”

“Hmm? At the time, I was a bit nervous and my mind was a mess, so I don't remember it very clearly.” Chen Pingan pondered for a moment. “Let me think.”

In truth, Chen Pingan had already designed exactly which part of the courtyard wall he had climbed over. His current display of contemplation was merely to make the story appear more authentic and believable.

“It should have been at this position!” Chen Pingan paced a few steps along the courtyard wall before pointing to a specific spot with certainty.

“Here?”

“Yes,” Chen Pingan nodded.

Tan Huacong walked over to the section of the wall Chen Pingan had pointed out and looked at the position of the woodpile. After estimating the distance between the two, he found no issues and nodded, signaling Chen Pingan to continue.

“He lunged out from here, and it gave me such a fright that I was completely stunned. To be honest with you, Chief Tan, although I’ve been a bailiff for a long time, I’ve truly never encountered a situation like this. The man was tall and carried such decisiveness; his aura really terrified me. My mind went blank. Seeing him coming at me so aggressively, my first reaction was to just crouch down.”

“Crouch down?” Tan Huacong looked at Chen Pingan with a strange expression.

With a formidable enemy arriving, clearly intending to take his life, his first reaction was actually to crouch down?

However...

For a youth who had not even entered the threshold of martial arts, such a reaction seemed to align with reality when facing danger.

“Yes, I crouched down.” Chen Pingan showed a hint of embarrassment. “I didn't know what to do at the time. I just followed my instinct and crouched. I guess I was just lucky to be alive. Looking back now, that reaction seems to have saved my life. When I crouched down, it was as if he lunged straight into the wall. After that, I don't know what happened, but he actually fell down. Once he fell, my head cleared up a bit. I immediately stood up and tried to run for the courtyard gate.

But he got up faster than I expected. Before I could reach the gate, he threw a kick at me. I had no choice but to take the blow squarely in the chest. That force sent me crashing to the ground.”

Chen Pingan pulled up his clothing, exposing his chest to Tan Huacong.

By the light of the torch, Tan Huacong looked closely and saw that there was indeed a large area of bruising on Chen Pingan's chest, clearly caused by a kick.

“Are you saying that you, an ordinary person, took a direct kick from 'Scruffy Fish'?” Tan Huacong looked at Chen Pingan in disbelief.

“Yes,” Chen Pingan nodded.

“You took a kick from him and only sustained this much injury? And you can even stand up now?”

“I don't know about that either.” Chen Pingan shook his head in confusion. “All I know is that my chest felt incredibly painful at the time. But somehow, a surge of strength appeared out of nowhere, and I was able to stand up. Just as I stood up, his fist was already coming at me. He was originally aiming for my head, but because I stood up suddenly, he hit my chest instead.”

Tan Huacong looked at the smaller bruise near the edge of the large one on Chen Pingan's chest and nodded.

“I took a punch from him, and I was terrified. I didn't think much; I just ran backward. As I ran, he chased me. But I don't know what happened—after only a few steps, he actually tripped and fell. I don't know where I got the courage from, but there happened to be a stone by my feet. Seeing him fall, I picked up the stone and charged straight at him, smashing it toward his neck.

I struck him once, and he tried to resist, attempting to kick me. Without thinking, I just kept smashing with the stone. I hit the foot he tried to kick with, and then I hit his neck. His resistance grew weaker and weaker, but I didn't dare stop. I was afraid that if I stopped, I would be the one dying.”

A flash of fear crossed Chen Pingan's face.

“By the time I realized what was happening, it had ended up like this.”

“Mm.” Tan Huacong nodded steadily.

He contemplated Chen Pingan's words.

To his ears, the general sequence of events seemed fine. However, there were two points of doubt. First, given Scruffy Fish's martial arts cultivation, the injuries Chen Pingan sustained from a kick and a punch seemed a bit light. Second, there were the two instances during the struggle where Scruffy Fish fell.

Chen Pingan looked at Tan Huacong, his face full of lingering fear. Yet, beneath that expression of fear, there was a faint trace of tension in his heart.

What he had just told Tan Huacong was half-truth and half-lie. Even the scene in the courtyard had been fabricated and covered up. The combat process he described was largely consistent with the reality.

As long as it wasn't a highly professional and meticulous crime scene investigation, no problems would be found.

Nevertheless, until he received Tan Huacong's validation, Chen Pingan could not help feeling a bit nervous, though he hid this emotion well.

One had to admit, he truly had the potential of an actor.

“I must say, your luck is truly incredible!” Tan Huacong sighed after a long moment of thought. “If anything had gone wrong in any part of that, the one lying here might have been you.”

“Yes,” Chen Pingan said with a look of relief. “Perhaps my old man is watching over me from heaven.”

Hearing Chen Pingan say this, Tan Huacong was reminded of Chen Tian'an.

“Right, enough. I understand. I really didn't expect that Scruffy Fish of the Green Fish Gang, a martial expert of the second level of Qi and Blood, would end up dying at your hands by such a freak accident.”

Tan Huacong suppressed his two doubts for the time being. Perhaps Scruffy Fish's injuries were heavier than they imagined, to the point where normal movement was difficult.

This would explain why the force of his strikes was greatly diminished and why he kept tripping.

It made sense; the man was wanted by the Suppression Division. Even with money, he had nowhere to buy medicinal herbs or food. Without sufficient nourishment and medicine, his injuries would only worsen. It was perfectly logical that Scruffy Fish would go to Chen Pingan's house to steal food tonight.

Of course, these were merely Tan Huacong's reasonable deductions, not necessarily the absolute truth.

For Tan Huacong, as long as he could confirm that the person dead in the courtyard was indeed Scruffy Fish, the exact details of the process didn't matter much.

“Chief Tan, about the reward...”

“Yes, I will record it and report it up the chain. Don't worry.” Tan Huacong nodded. “However, it is very late now. Even if I record it now, it won't be reported immediately. Why don't you head back first, and we'll deal with it tomorrow?”

“Chief Tan, how about I go back to the Suppression Division with you to record everything? That way, if you need any more details during the recording, you can ask me to supplement them immediately.”

Since this involved his official status as a bailiff, Chen Pingan felt uneasy and made the suggestion.

Tan Huacong glanced at Chen Pingan, understanding his intentions.

After all, this involved a medium-level merit; anyone would be uneasy about leaving it to chance.

“In that case, let's go back together,” Tan Huacong agreed.

“Alright, thank you, Chief Tan.” A smile appeared on Chen Pingan's face.