Mysterious Lotus Casebook – Cheng Yi, Joseph Zeng, Xiao Shunyao

The waves were raging like mountains, and the sudden rain and fierce wind caused the ship to rise and fall with the huge waves. On the deck, Li Xiangyi, the top master of the Zhengdao faction and the head of the Sigu Sect, stood facing Di Feisheng, the top master of the evil faction and the leader of the Jinyuan Alliance, prepared for a life-and-death battle. Li Xiangyi sank into the sea...

As the dazzling light faded away, Li Lianhua, the sleepy itinerant doctor, woke up. In a humble street, a dilapidated Lotus Flower Tower served as Li Lianhua's residence. While arguing with a group of scholars at the vegetable market, Li Lianhua was suddenly intercepted by members of the Iron Armor Sect, who asked him to revive their young master who had already breathed his last. Having heard about Li Lianhua's reputation, they couldn't help but give it a try. However, Li Lianhua refused.

At this moment, in the Baichuan Courtyard—the justice sanctum that investigated unresolved cases in the martial world—young disciples were selecting the new detectives for this year. A masked disciple emerged as the leader. When the mask was removed, it turned out to be the young master of the prominent Fang family, Fang Duobing! Swearing to join the Baichuan Courtyard as a detective, Fang Duobing also claimed to inherit the legacy of his "master," Li Xiangyi, and uphold justice in the martial world. The Baichuan Courtyard agreed to let Fang Duobing solve three major cases before considering his request. With confidence, he took on the case of the "Chan Dui Deng Xian" in Jiazhou City, and he even took Shui Shui's waist token along the way.

On the road, he encountered members of the Iron Armor Sect who were about to attack Li Lianhua. Fang Duobing intervened and saved him, inviting Li Lianhua to stay at the inn he had booked. However, he was poisoned by Li Lianhua. Fang Duobing vowed to seek revenge for Li Lianhua.

Several young participants in the "Recognizing Children" event suddenly found themselves engulfed in flames, suffering serious injuries, but Wang Fu remained unharmed. Fang Duobing accused the Lingshan Sect of maliciously harming people, while the Lingshan Sect retorted that Fang Duobing was the primary suspect. As the two sides argued endlessly, Li Lianhua skillfully used words, claiming that he could perform the resurrection technique, in order to probe the true intentions of the sect leader. Li Lianhua examined the note left by the master and exposed the secret of Qing Shan's transformation into the golden body in front of everyone. He also recognized Qing Shan's hand gesture for feigning death using the "Turtle Breath Technique."

That night, Li Lianhua and Jin Shen were alone in the spiritual hall, and sure enough, at midnight, Jin Shen began writing on a piece of paper through supernatural means. Outside the spiritual hall, several pairs of eyes were fixed on the intentionally burnt remnants of the written characters by Lianhua.

The next morning, the spiritual Children submitted their answers, and several of them wrote "He" (贺). Only Wang Fu wrote "Helan" (贺兰). Wang Fu candidly admitted that he submitted a blank answer sheet, which infuriated the Lingshan Sect. Li Lianhua shook his head and explained the mechanism behind the technique. After the crowd was left in awe and confusion, they wondered why Li Lianhua played these tricks. With a serious expression, Lianhua explained that it was to find the murderer who killed the sect leader and then revealed the whole story of Qing Shan's staged death.

The truth was revealed: the steward Pu Erhuang was Wang Fu's biological father but also a remnant of the Jinyuan Alliance. He plotted to kill the sect leader and support Wang Fu to inherit the leadership, and he profited from the scheme. The case was solved, but Li Lianhua secretly met Pu Erhuang once more. It turned out that Li Lianhua's purpose in coming to Jiazhou was to find out the whereabouts of his senior brother Shan Gudao's body. However, Pu Erhuang remained tight-lipped and took the opportunity to attack Li Lianhua, but he was killed by Fang Duobing who arrived just in time. Li Lianhua bid his farewell and left quietly.

Li Lianhua woke up from a nightmare, memories now distant. The poisoning has become more frequent lately, and the master predicted he has at most ten more years to live; this year is already the year of his life's limit. However, he must find out what happened to his senior brother, so he decided to make a trip to Yucheng.

Fang Duobing, who felt abandoned, couldn't let go of the grudge. He followed with Wang Fu and Li'er to track down Li Lianhua, eventually finding shelter at a small inn called "Xiaomian Inn." As Fang Duobing entered the inn's gate, he immediately spotted Li Lianhua, whom he regarded as a "fox spirit," eating noodles in the lobby. Instantly, old grievances resurfaced, and the two engaged in a heated confrontation. Other guests discussed the ghost story about a skeleton that circulated here and cursed the lobby, which was plastered with missing person notices. Among them was the younger sister of the lord of Yucheng, Yu Qiushuang, who had run away from home for several days. Yun Jiaogu-niang from Yucheng arrived with guards to search for her. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew open the doors and windows of the lobby. Everyone was startled, as the figure in the portrait turned out to be Yu Qiushuang!

After the commotion settled, Li Lianhua shifted the conversation to inquire about why Duobing and the others had not returned. At that moment, eerie sounds emanated from upstairs, and a skeleton hand grabbed Wang Fu's neck. Wang Fu was dead, covered in blood, his body drenched on the floor. The surrounding people, drawn by Li'er's scream, were terrified, shouting that ghosts had killed him! Fang Duobing was overwhelmed with grief, vowing to uncover the truth. Li Lianhua, who seemed the most suspicious, was nowhere to be found, and Yu Qiushuang had disappeared as well. Fang Duobing, Li Lianhua, and the Yucheng guards rushed into the room of the escort leader Cheng Yunhe and found Yu Qiushuang's body in a sealed box. Enraged, the guards took everyone back to Yucheng.

With Fang Duobing's persuasion, Yu Hongzhu gave them three days to find the murderer. Fang Hua examined Yu Qiushuang's body and discovered that she had been struck by a palm and poisoned with a needle. It was evident that Yu Qiushuang was killed early on in Yucheng. Fang Duobing was furious and blamed himself for not taking care of Wang Fu properly. He considered Yu Hongzhu, who was in a hurry to kill the guards and destroy important evidence, the most suspicious. They obtained some clues from Yu Qiushuang's maidservant, which led them to the revelation that someone had sneaked into Yun Jiao's room to kill her.

Luckily, Fang Duobing was prepared in advance. He caught the culprit, who was wrapped in a mechanism cloth bag, believing it was Yu Hongzhu. To their surprise, the culprit turned out to be Yu Cheng's lord, Yu Mulan, the husband of Hongzhu. Yu Hongzhu and Zongzheng Mingzhu arrived upon hearing the commotion and were equally astonished. However, Li Lianhua was not surprised at all.

Fang Hua exposed Yu Mulan's true identity and misdeeds, as well as the illicit relationships between Yu Hongzhu and Zongzheng Mingzhu, as well as Yun Jiao and Yu Mulan. Yu Qiushuang had been killed by these four individuals. Li Lianhua's deduction lacked sufficient evidence, and Yu Mulan denied everything. Li Lianhua looked at Yun Jiao, who was still pretending to be insane, and sighed at her worthlessness. Yun Jiao thought she had obtained love but had betrayed Qiushuang's friendship. She admitted that Li Lianhua's words were all true. On that day, Yu Qiushuang had run into her room crying and unexpectedly witnessed her affair with Yu Mulan. Unable to accept it, Yu Qiushuang was killed by Yu Mulan's "Soul-stealing Needle" in her state of shock. Yun Jiao was frightened and afraid of retaliation from Yu Hongzhu, so she had no choice but to cooperate with Yu Mulan in all of this.

Yu Mulan had no more arguments left. Yu Hongzhu was furious and sent Yu Mulan to the death prison, vowing to make him suffer. After Zongzheng Mingzhu executed the "Sky-splitting Palm," Li Lianhua pointed at her and said, "You are also the murderer who killed Yu Qiushuang! It was both the 'Sky-splitting Palm' and the 'Soul-stealing Needle' that took Yu Qiushuang's life." Yu Hongzhu was shocked; she had been seen by Yu Qiushuang during her secret meeting with Zongzheng Mingzhu that day. Unbeknownst to her, Yu Qiushuang had already fallen victim to Zongzheng Mingzhu's deadly technique. However, Yu Hongzhu seemed to be partial to Zongzheng Mingzhu and claimed she would handle the family affairs herself.

With conclusive evidence against them, Yu Hongzhu and Zongzheng Mingzhu stubbornly refused to admit their guilt and planned to trap Fang Duobing and Li Lianhua in Yucheng. Fortunately, Li Lianhua had already dispatched a messenger from the "Fox Spirit" faction to inform Shi Shui and his men to come. In the end, they managed to help Fang Duobing bring these two to justice! After leading Li Lianhua to the back mountain of Yucheng, they discovered a forbidden area for cultivation. To their surprise, many former members of the Jinyuan Alliance, including Jiao Liqiao and Snow Palace Master, were waiting there. Suddenly, someone broke through the blockade, and that person turned out to be... Di Feisheng! Since Di Feisheng was still alive, he might know the whereabouts of their senior brother.

Fang Duobing rushed to Lianhua Lou and invited him to venture into the martial world together to solve cases, but Li Lianhua declined. Just as Duobing thought he was close to persuading him, Li Lianhua used the same trick again, getting Duobing drunk and leaving him on the roadside. She then disappeared from sight with Lianhua Lou! After Di Feisheng left seclusion, he returned to the headquarters of the Jinyuan Alliance.

At this moment, Li Lianhua held a jug of wine and sat under a tree in front of a grave, drinking with his late master, pouring out his heart. On the way back to Lianhua Lou through a dark alley, he overheard two thieves discussing strange events at Puchu Mountain. Lianhua arrived at Puchu Mountain but was caught red-handed by Fang Duobing, who had also come to the same place. They were forced to enter Wei Zhuang together. The tomb robbers were chatting happily and planning to target the clueless Fang Duobing, but Li Lianhua revealed his identity as "Su Shou Shusheng," and the crowd admired and respected him, thus rescuing Duobing from trouble. However, Fang Duobing then used Li Lianhua's true identity to threaten him and force him to cooperate.

After the owner of the estate arrived, he hosted a grand banquet, with Fang Duobing assigned to a lower position due to his commoner status, while Li Lianhua was treated as a distinguished guest. A young boy with a cold expression and a small mask was also seated at the upper position. The owner presented a map, which showed the tomb of the First Grade Prince Fangji. Everyone's interest was piqued, and they all wanted a share of it. The twin brothers known as "Lion and Tiger Twin Killers" questioned whether the young boy in the upper position wanted to get involved as well. Meanwhile, "Sharp-eyed Rat" Ding Yuanzi, who had drunk too much, teased the boy with a chopstick dipped in wine, but unexpectedly, the boy retaliated and stabbed his eyes.

That night, screams were heard from the room of the Lion and Tiger Twin Killers. When everyone rushed to see, they found that Zhang Qing's head had been severed, and he lay dead in the room, while Zhang Qinghu was terrified and pale. The situation was suspicious, and the young boy became the prime suspect. When the owner arrived, he guaranteed that the boy was not responsible, suggesting that there might be a spy from the righteous Baichuan Courtyard, and he would verify each person's identity.

The next morning, Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing revealed the truth of the case involving the duo known as "Shi Hu Shuang Sha" (Lion-Tiger Double Kill) in front of everyone. They realized that the wine they had last night was poisoned by the Manor Lord. Fang Hua and the others were coerced by the Manor Lord to set off on a journey. Ge Pan was also taken hostage by the "Baichuan Courtyard" and joined the group on the road. Along the way, the Manor Lord was bossing everyone around, but the child carried a servant on his back and treated him with great respect.

In front of a huge rock in Puchu Mountain, which was the site of the incident with the corpse, Li Lianhua carefully observed the surroundings and noticed that Fang Duobing was fixedly looking at the rock itself. He whispered, "This is the place." The child climbed up the rock and entered a hidden grand stone door after a while. It turned out that there was a secret entrance to "Yipin Grave" concealed within the rock. Upon learning that this was a bottomless trap, everyone felt even more terrified. However, the Manor Lord forced them to find the entrance: "This is just the visible tower; the secret entrance to Yipin Grave must be here." Using his mechanism skills, Fang Duobing successfully found the real entrance to Yipin Grave.

After entering the entrance, they encountered the pitch-black Xuanhun ladder (Ladder of Lost Souls), where some of the group members died, and others were injured. The child, however, couldn't care less about other people's lives and looked ahead at a huge Guanyin gate. Suddenly, the torches went out, and hidden weapons were activated, shooting and injuring the group. When the torches were lit again, Li Lianhua further revealed the true faces of the "Shi Hu Shuang Sha" duo. It turned out that each of the group members had their own hidden agenda, and the only common point was their desire for the treasure inside the tomb.

The Manor Lord looked at the treasures inside the tomb with excitement, while the child remained indifferent, saying that they could all die. After killing the Manor Lord first, he turned around and attacked Li Lianhua with a palm strike. Fang Duobing stepped in front of Li Lianhua, blocking the child's attack with his sword, and told Li Lianhua to run away. After a few rounds of fighting, they couldn't hold on any longer. Li Lianhua used his flying claws to snatch the jade bottle of "Guan Yin Chui Lei" and led the child away. After the child took the "Guan Yin Chui Lei," his bones crackled, and his body grew, throwing down the mask on his face, revealing his murderous intent. It turned out to be Di Feisheng.

Li Lianhua's internal strength was ultimately not enough, and he was caught up by Di Feisheng. Li Lianhua knew Di Feisheng too well; the ultimate pursuit of martial arts for Di Feisheng was to find the martial arts treasures "Guan Yin Chui Lei" and "Wang Chuan Flower." When he learned that strange things had happened near Puchu Mountain, he guessed that it must be the work of Di Feisheng. From beginning to end, it was all Li Lianhua's plan. Li Lianhua threatened Di Feisheng to find the remains of Shan Gudao. Di Feisheng used a technique to extract the whereabouts of the person related to the Lion Soul, and asked Li Lianhua to accompany him to Pudu Temple.

Fang Duobing didn't know Di Feisheng, and Li Lianhua smirked as he introduced him as the iron-headed slave and his old acquaintance, Ah Fei, whom he now travels with since Ah Fei is homeless. Fang Duobing tried to provoke Ah Fei, but only earned a cold laugh in response. The two started fighting at the dinner table, and they continued to fight when it came to assigning rooms. Li Lianhua was helpless in the midst of their quarrels.

Baichuan Courtyard was bustling with excitement. Fang Duobing eagerly anticipated the final trial of the junior master's sword. He vividly described the scene from years ago when Lixiangyi did everything to make Qiao Wanmian smile. Lixiangyi had tied a long red silk ribbon to the hilt of his sword and performed a breathtaking set of "Crazy Drunk" thirty-six sword moves on the roof of the Qinglou in Yangzhou, a story that attracted a large crowd.

On the stage, Qiao Wanmian announced to everyone that she had spent several years searching for the junior master and had finally found him. Unbeknownst to her, Di Feisheng discreetly pushed Li Lianhua forward, who coincidentally got the chance to test the sword. Li Lianhua stepped onto the stage, and as he gripped the junior master's sword, he felt as if he had traveled back ten years in time. With a forceful pull, the crowd marveled at his skill, but Li Lianhua's brow furrowed. Di Feisheng flicked a hidden weapon from his fingers, hitting the sword, and to everyone's surprise, the junior master's sword began to corrode before their eyes! Lianhua pointed out that the sword was a fake, leaving everyone questioning the whereabouts of the real junior master's sword.

Li Lianhua and others began to investigate and uncovered the truth behind the sword swap. Suddenly, they heard that black-clad individuals were attacking Qiao Wanmian, and Lianhua found and rescued her through an underground passage. Weak and grateful, Qiao Wanmian mistook Li Lianhua for Lixiangyi as they sought an escape route. Her consciousness started to fade, and she accidentally called out "Lixiangyi." Li Lianhua felt a pang in his heart but had no time for sorrow. He exerted all his strength, creating an exit in the underground passage, and carried Qiao Wanmian as they flew out, landing in a grove of cherry blossoms. Qiao Wanmian, still calling for Lixiangyi, believed she was meeting her old friend again.

Li Lianhua regained consciousness after a day of unconsciousness. Qiao Wanmian came to thank him for saving her life, and Li Lianhua returned the cherry blossom sachet to her. Qiao Wanmian handed it back to him, marking the end of her ten years of waiting. Li Lianhua smiled and blessed her but, after she left, he coughed up blood and fell ill, unable to get up.

Fang Duobing felt somewhat puzzled, unable to understand what story Li Lianhua had gone through. Even the master couldn't figure him out. Difeisheng, who had eavesdropped by the window, also learned that Lixiangyi had been defeated by him with half a move because of the "Green Tea Poison" set up by Jiao Liqiao and Yun Biqiu. Following the clues given by Qiao Wanmian, Li Lianhua learned that the last appearance of the Lion Soul was at the Cailian Manor. Coincidentally, in the past ten years, there had been three "Pomegranate Skirt Murders" at the Cailian Manor. The three of them decided to go there.

Before long, they arrived at Cailian Manor. A few days ago, the wife of the young master of the manor, Guo Huozhi, drowned in the pond in the manor on the night before their wedding. The manor owner, Guo Qian, warmly entertained the three of them, revealing his infatuation with lotus flowers during their conversation. Fang Duobing asked Guo Qian about the deaths of the three people at Cailian Manor. It was suspicious that all three of them died wearing the same wedding dress. Just as he was about to inquire further, Di Feisheng, with a stern face, directly asked Guo Qian about the whereabouts of the Lion Soul. Guo Qian claimed that he had never seen such a person. At that moment, a demented old man rushed into the room. It turned out to be Guo Qian's younger brother, Guo Kun, who had gone crazy after falling ill as a child.