Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 428 - 403: The 4th Witness!

Chapter 428: Chapter 403: The 4th Witness!

Soon, three people were brought into the main hall.

"Your humble servant greets the Chief of Staff."

The three of them knelt down trembling in fear.

"Stand up and answer, what did you three see last night in Daye Fang?"

A small, elderly man said, "I am the night watchman of Daye Fang. Last night, while I was making my rounds, I passed by the Turbid Water Well. Since there are usually not many people there, I decided to take a break and slack off a bit. Then... then I saw a young man push another person from the edge of the Turbid Water Well. And... and..."

"And what?"

"And the first time he didn’t manage to push him down, the other person clung to the well’s edge with both hands. Then he pulled out a hammer with a fire on it and struck that person’s back, which finally knocked the person into the well."

After questioning the first person, Shen Wei glanced at the second one.

The second was a young man with a somewhat sly appearance.

Seeing Shen Wei look at him, he fell to the ground with a thud, saying, "I...I’m just a petty thief. I thought with the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone would be in their courtyards admiring the moon and giving prayers, so I’d have a chance to sneak into a house. When I was climbing over the wall, I just happened to see this person... right... this person... strike another person standing by the well, but he didn’t fall. Then he used a hammer with a fire on it and struck him. I don’t know where he got that hammer from; it was so sudden. With a loud bang, the other person was smashed down."

Shen Wei looked toward the third person, a woman.

"Widow Wang, just say what you saw! This criminal won’t retaliate against you."

Widow Wang said with a blush, "On the Mid-Autumn Festival, when other families are together, I’m alone in my house, so that night, I... had someone over... At the window... um... I saw it. It was similar to what the other two said, but I didn’t see him push or hit the person, I just saw that there were two people at first, and then it was just him. I was terrified. Fortunately, something was stuffed in my mouth, which kept me from crying out."

After interrogating, Shen Wei glanced at Zhang San and said coldly, "Zhang San, do you plead guilty or not?"

Zhang San asked with a bewildered face, "What crime should I plead guilty to? Sires, first look at my face, and my build, is it me who pushed someone into the well last night?"

The three people glanced at Zhang San and nodded in unison.

Zhang San, irritated, continued to ask, "Then did you see my face clearly?"

The night watchman and the thief shook their heads, but Widow Wang nodded slightly.

"From the rear window of my house, I could see the Turbid Water Well in the distance, so I saw your face clearly."

"Are you sure that the person you saw was me?"

"The moonlight was quite bright at the time, and I had a clear view of your face. It was quite handsome, and I almost got... cough cough... I just have a good memory."

Shen Wei gave a cold laugh and said, "Zhang San, have you anything else to say?"

Zhang San frowned and asked, "I’m curious, what Realm is the Zheng Family Head?"

Shen Wei didn’t know and looked around at the officials.

Then, Shen Erxian said, "Although the Zheng Family is skilled in archery, they have neglected their own abilities for quite some time. This is why Zheng Poyue needed to gain experience in the military. Zheng Fang became the Family Head thanks to his scheming rather than his strength. Although he once reached the Spiritual Platform Realm, his current combat ability is likely not even on par with the Five Emperors’ Proper Position in the True Core Realm."

Zhang San laughed.

"Spiritual Platform Realm? I have killed those before. Tell me, if I were to push someone who isn’t even equivalent to the Five Emperors’ Proper Position in the True Core Realm, and couldn’t do it on the first try, needing to use a hammer with fire? Isn’t this skill a bit too poor?"

Shen Wei’s brow furrowed slightly. Indeed, with Zhang San’s strength, it would have been impossible for him to strike Zheng Fang a second time.

"Perhaps you were just careless for a moment!" Yang Hongming shouted from the side.

Zhang San frowned and glanced at Yang Hongming, retorting, "But among these three witnesses, two have never seen my face and can’t confirm that it was definitely me! The only one, Widow Wang, who did see my face, didn’t witness me pushing anyone. Therefore, the testimony of witnesses is insufficient."

Yang Hongming stood up and bellowed, "But their three accounts corroborate each other, and that can prove you killed Zheng Fang at that time."

"But did these three people see each other? How can you be so sure that all three of them witnessed the same scene at the same time? How do you know that after Widow Wang saw me, someone else didn’t go there and secretly murder Zheng Fang?"

Yang Hongming opened his mouth wide for a long time but ultimately didn’t know what to say and sat back down.

Zhang San sneered inwardly. With such poor skills, he thought he could compete with me.

At that moment, a familiar voice came from outside the hall.

"I can prove that when Zheng Fang went to the Turbid Water Well in Daye Fang, there was no one else around. And when I got there, Zheng Fang had already fallen into the well and was presumably dead. Zhang San was at the scene."

Hearing this irritating mature female voice, Zhang San turned around and saw that it was indeed his old nemesis, Vermilion Bird.

Vermilion Bird walked up, cupped her fist in her hand toward Shen Wei, and said, "Last night, while the Town Martial Office was patrolling, I encountered another patrol team who mentioned that Zheng Fang, relying on his achievements in following the dragon, didn’t take the patrol team seriously and moved around as he wished. They didn’t dare to arrest him, so I went south to look for him and that’s when I came upon Zhang San, near the Turbid Water Well in Daye Fang."

Shen Wei glanced at Zhang San and asked, "How do you explain this?"

Zhang San calmly turned his head to look at Vermilion Bird and inquired, "Vermilion Bird Principal Officer, did you see me push Zheng Fang?"

"No."

"Did you see me hit Zheng Fang and knock him into the well?"

"No."

"So, you see, you can’t be considered a witness, right?"

"But just now, the Town Martial Office retrieved Zheng Fang’s corpse from the well, and it is currently being examined. We’ll have the results very soon."

Upon hearing this, Zhang San remained composed, though his heart was racing.

"Vermilion Bird Principal Officer, last night you also saw me trying to dismantle that formation. If I were truly the one who killed Zheng Fang, truly setting up the formation for the Floating Corpse Case or whatever, then why would I destroy the formation?"

Vermilion Bird fell silent for a moment, then bowed to Shen Wei and said, "When I arrived, due to the gravity of the situation, it was inconvenient to explain some matters here in front of everyone. But Zhang San indeed took actions to destroy the formation and even encountered hostility from something strange within the formation. He even suffered an attack."

Yang Hongming smirked and said, "Vermilion Bird Principal Officer, whose side are you on? Doesn’t Zhang San have a blood feud with you?"

Vermilion Bird glared at Yang Hongming, furious, "I do have a blood feud with Zhang San, but when I, Vermilion Bird, seek revenge, I will do so personally, not by resorting to trickery!"

Yang Hongming shut his mouth and looked at Shen Wei.

At this moment, a voice came from outside the hall.

"The examination results for Zheng Fang’s corpse are out!"

Hearing this, Zhang San felt his heart strangely tremble.