Chapter 283: Ku Rong Ban Ruo Dao

By the mist-shrouded lakeside, Duan Rong's body trembled, and he suddenly woke up.

He jumped up, knelt halfway by the lakeside, and his Divine Sense suddenly projected outward!

At this time, the sky was already beginning to brighten, and Wild Lake was covered in a layer of early spring mist.

Duan Rong's Divine Sense swept over, and his heart eased; there was no one in the vicinity, which meant he had not been exposed.

A light breeze picked up, and the withered tree branches made a rustling sound.

Under the sweep of Duan Rong's Divine Sense, he discovered that Xie Daohan's corpse had drifted to the opposite side of the lake at some point!

Just then, Duan Rong's gaze shifted; he looked at the ground not far in front of him. The half of Xie Daohan's skull that had been sliced off was no longer wobbling, and the brains inside were smeared with a layer of blood, looking rather like a bowl of salty bean curd topped with chili sauce left by the lakeside.

Near the edge of the lake, not far from that skull, a barrier blade was stuck in the ground; it was precisely Xie Daohan's weapon.

Duan Rong walked over slowly, grasped the barrier blade in his hand, and secretly thought: "Spirit Reader."

Artifact: Barrier Blade

Spirit Artifact Tier: Level 4

Devour Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 4 (Satisfied)

Devour Effect: Ku Rong Ban Ruo Dao Entry Realm.

"Ku Rong Ban Ruo Dao?" Duan Rong looked at this set of data appearing before him, and his eyelids twitched; a martial art at the Entry Realm was actually a Level 4 Spirit Artifact!

He immediately understood: this was a Middle Vehicle martial art! A martial art of the True Qi Realm!

Duan Rong's eyes brightened, and he secretly thought: "Devour!"

Just as Duan Rong finished devouring, his gaze tightened, and he looked toward a certain direction amidst the drifting mist.

There were a few women there, carrying empty baskets, coming together!

They had come to the riverside to dig for some early spring wild vegetables to cook with thin porridge to feed their families.

Duan Rong's gaze was cold as he looked toward the opposite bank of the lake, where Xie Daohan's corpse was floating.

Duan Rong suddenly threw away the barrier blade in his hand, his figure leaped, and he vanished from the lakeside.

If Xie Daohan's corpse had not touched the water, he would have been prepared to destroy the body and wipe away the traces. But now, Xie Daohan's corpse had been soaking in the cold water for an entire night and would not burn at all, and since people had already arrived at the lakeside, he had no time to deal with it. Moreover, after Duan Rong pondered it, there were no traces on the corpse that could be used to track him.

In the dim light of the sky, aided by the cover of the mist, Duan Rong's figure flickered through the small alleys. His Divine Sense remained projected, but since it was just dawn and the season was still bitingly cold with spring chill, there was simply no one on the road.

Using the exploration of his Divine Sense projection and the execution of the Cloud Snake Step, Duan Rong quickly darted into the Escort Agency and vaulted back into Liu Lu.

Only the moment Duan Rong's feet stepped into the courtyard of Liu Lu did he feel slightly at ease.

After the bitter battle with Xie Daohan last night, Duan Rong had still ended up with injuries all over his body; two ribs were broken, and his internal organs were also slightly damaged.

However, Duan Rong had practiced the Bone-Locking Technique, so the broken bones had already been set by him, and they only needed time to heal.

In fact, if Duan Rong were willing to use the Filthy Blood Divine Art, these injuries could be healed instantly, but even at this time, Duan Rong still felt great disgust and resistance toward this evil art.

Duan Rong flipped his hand, poured out one of the Medicine Pills left behind by Shen Ping, swallowed it, and then stripped off his clothes, stood beside the large water vat, and washed himself thoroughly.

Duan Rong soaked his clothes in a wooden basin, then wiped his body clean and returned to his room.

He wrapped himself in a blanket and lay on the bed, but he could not sleep; he simply closed his eyes and pondered the matter of Xie Daohan.

About half an incense stick of time passed, the sky was already bright, the faint mist had dissipated, and it had become noticeably noisy outside.

Just at this moment, outside the gate of the Liu Lu courtyard, came the *tap-tap-tap* sound of knocking on the door!

Duan Rong's gaze shifted, and his Divine Sense swept over.

He saw that the person knocking at the door outside was Yang Zhen.

This was a task Xie Daohan had assigned to Yang Zhen: to come to Liu Lu every morning to look for Duan Rong.

Seeing that it was Yang Zhen who had come to find him, Duan Rong rolled off the bed, took a set of new clothes from a wardrobe to put on, and prepared to open the door.

To tell the truth, he was just about to find Yang Zhen to probe for information regarding Xie Daohan.

Because Duan Rong had been delayed by putting on his clothes, by the time he walked across the courtyard and prepared to open the door, Yang Zhen had already turned to leave, thinking no one was there.

Duan Rong was just about to open the door and call out to Yang Zhen, but he suddenly stopped there.

Because his Divine Sense, which had passed through the door, had caught the expression on Yang Zhen's face as he left.

When Yang Zhen was knocking on the door, his expression was very grave, lacking any of the relaxed look one has when meeting a friend. After knocking for a long time and seeing that Duan Rong was not there, he had instead let out a light sigh upon turning to leave, looking as if a burden had been lifted.

At this moment, Yang Zhen truly did not know how to face Duan Rong, so every time he knocked on the door to no avail, he instead felt a sense of relief in his heart.

But these subtle expressions, in Duan Rong's view, were clearly all very unusual.

Because he had just been thinking about whether anyone else knew that Xie Daohan had already secretly made a move against him.

One must know that he was now a Registered Disciple of the Sect, and he was still in the public notice period; for Xie Daohan to make a move against him at such a sensitive time, he would have to take a certain risk.

Based on this point, Duan Rong deduced that Xie Daohan must have done a good job of keeping the matter of his attack on him secret, and that no one else knew.

But now, Duan Rong was somewhat suspicious: did Yang Zhen know?

Duan Rong remembered that after Xie Lei died, Yang Zhen had become Xie Daohan's confidant.

Duan Rong stood behind the courtyard gate, his right thumb and index finger rubbing against each other, his gaze filled with deep contemplation.

Just at this moment, the *thump-thump-thump* sound of knocking on the door rang out again at the courtyard gate.

Duan Rong's heart moved suddenly; he thought Yang Zhen had returned, but at the same time the knocking sounded, a detestable voice began to shout almost simultaneously.

"Duan Rong! Duan Rong!"

"Are you there?"

"I've been waiting for you for several days!"

"If you don't come back, I'm going to take a dump in front of your door..."

Duan Rong stood behind the courtyard gate, listening to Ximen Kankan's shouting, his face immediately covered in black lines.

He pulled the courtyard gate open, looked at Ximen Kankan, and said angrily: "Come on, take one for me right now!"

Seeing Duan Rong suddenly open the door, Ximen Kankan was slightly startled, then laughed: "I knew you would definitely be back these two days! I caught you after all!"

Ximen Kankan had not come for several days, but he had calculated that in two days it would be the end of the public notice period, and they would be setting off. No matter what, Duan Rong should be back within these two days, so early this morning, he had come over early to knock on the door, and he had truly caught him right in the act.

"Aren't you going to take a dump?"

"Take a dump, my foot! Let's go to Weiyang Workshop! Before I leave, I want to leave behind a gambling legend for the gamblers in this county! You have to help me with this!"

Ximen Kankan didn't wait for an answer, grabbing Duan Rong and heading outside.

Duan Rong was already at the Great Perfection realm, so Ximen Kankan's Capture technique was long since useless against him, yet he still allowed Ximen Kankan to drag him out the door.

Because he felt that going to Weiyang Workshop to fool around with Ximen Kankan was not a bad way to create a smokescreen. "Wait for me to lock the courtyard gate..."

The two arrived at the street, ate some breakfast, and then ducked into Weiyang Workshop.

Even in the early morning, there were quite a few people in Weiyang Workshop; many gamblers already had dark circles under their eyes, having stayed up all night, yet their excitement remained undiminished...

Ximen Kankan pulled Duan Rong along, looking for a spot everywhere...

After Yang Zhen walked out of the Yuanshun Escort Agency, he went to the Ya Men to sign in.

For the past few days, Xie Daohan had barely shown his face at the Ya Men, so he had enjoyed some leisure!

At his desk in the Constable room, Yang Zhen drank a cup of clear tea, then pulled over a case file, pretending to flip through it while squinting his eyes to take a nap.

There was almost no one in the Constable room; Xie Daohan was strict with his subordinates, and everyone had their own tasks, so how could they be idle and carefree in the Constable room?

It was only because Yang Zhen usually worked under Xie Daohan that he had no other duties. Only with Xie Daohan away could he be idle for a few days!

Yang Zhen had only been dozing for a short while when a burly figure rushed in. Seeing Yang Zhen, he shouted, "Brother Yang Zhen, where is Head Constable Xie?"

The person who entered was named Zhu Guibao, one of the lead Constables in the Ya Men; he was burly and tall, with an honest-looking face.

But Yang Zhen knew that among the Constables, this man was the most cunning and treacherous.

Yang Zhen raised his eyes and said, "Head Constable Xie hasn't been to the Ya Men for several days. How would I know where he is?"

Hearing this, Zhu Guibao's face showed a look of distress, and he said, "A murder case has occurred at the Wild Lake behind the City God Temple! A few farm women just came to report that they saw a corpse in the lake!"

The area around the City God Temple was the jurisdiction Xie Daohan had assigned to Zhu Guibao.

He could handle other matters on his own, but once a murder case occurred, he had to report it to Head Constable Xie Daohan immediately.

If Xie Daohan were away on official business, it could naturally be delayed for a few days, but as long as Xie Daohan was in Xiangu County, murder cases had to be reported to him immediately; Xie Daohan had always been very strict about this rule.

However, Xie Daohan hadn't shown his face at the Ya Men for several days, so where was he supposed to notify him?

Zhu Guibao smiled and said, "Brother Yang Zhen, why don't you come with me? Get to know the situation, and when the Head Constable returns, you can report it for me immediately."

Yang Zhen smiled faintly and said, "Brother Zhu is joking. The area around the City God Temple is your jurisdiction, how could I overstep? Besides, the Head Constable has other work for me, so I can't get away for the moment!"

Zhu Guibao said, "Fine then. If you see the Head Constable, put in a word for me and say that a murder case occurred at the Wild Lake behind the City God Temple."

Yang Zhen smiled and said, "That's easy!"

Watching Zhu Guibao thank him and hurry out of the Ya Men, Yang Zhen saw him take the Coroner Liu Kui along and rush toward the Wild Lake behind the City God Temple.

Disturbed by Zhu Guibao, Yang Zhen no longer felt sleepy. His expression suddenly shifted, and he went to retrieve the duplicate case files of the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case, carefully looking through them.

This time when Yang Zhen looked at the case files, it wasn't just a casual glance; he was mentally placing Duan Rong into the files, so each scene he saw was extremely shocking!

Yang Zhen naturally understood that Xie Daohan hadn't shown his face at the Ya Men these past few days because he was lying in wait for Duan Rong.

But Yang Zhen still felt suspicious: was Duan Rong really the perpetrator?

Duan Rong's honest and shy smile kept flashing through Yang Zhen's mind. As he stroked the case file in his hand, the massive contrast gave him a strong sense of unreality...

Yang Zhen was lost in this confused contemplation. In a daze, an hour had passed. Just as Yang Zhen was frowning in deep thought, a chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside.

Several yamen runners were carrying a stretcher, which was covered by a white cloth with two feet exposed; it was clearly a corpse!

Yang Zhen's expression was gloomy. Looking at Zhu Guibao who had followed behind, he said with displeasure, "Why are you bringing the corpse here?"

Zhu Guibao glanced at Yang Zhen and said, "The dead person is the Head Constable!"

"What?" Yang Zhen was stunned and didn't hear clearly; in fact, he was doubting his own ears.

However, Zhu Guibao was no longer paying attention to him. He turned his head to look at the Coroner Liu Kui and said, "Write a brief autopsy report quickly; I need to report to the County Magistrate!"

Liu Kui immediately put down the coroner's kit hanging from his shoulder, took a sheet of white paper, leaned over the desk, and began writing rapidly.

"Who did you just say died?" Yang Zhen stood up from his seat, looked at Zhu Guibao, and asked.

Zhu Guibao's face showed displeasure. He pointed at the corpse on the stretcher and said with a hostile tone, "Can't you go look for yourself?"

Zhu Guibao had already achieved the Small Success realm of the Inner Breath Realm. He had previously respected Yang Zhen because Yang Zhen was highly valued by Xie Daohan, who treated him as a confidant.

But now that Xie Daohan was dead, how could he possibly care about a guy like Yang Zhen who hadn't even achieved the Inner Breath Realm Second Layer?

But Yang Zhen's heart was trembling at this moment, and he was quite stunned by Zhu Guibao's change in attitude.

Yang Zhen just walked to the stretcher in a daze and lifted the white cloth!

He saw that the corpse underneath only had half a head! The other half of the head was placed on the corpse's chest.

Although the corpse was mangled, Yang Zhen had been with Xie Daohan almost day and night for the past half year, so he naturally recognized at a glance that this was indeed Xie Daohan's corpse!

Yang Zhen's brain buzzed, and the world instantly went silent; only the sound of his own heartbeat echoed like a drum...

Xie Daohan was a powerhouse of the True Qi Realm; who could have killed him?

Yang Zhen's gaze subconsciously turned toward his desk, where the case file he had just been reading was spread out!

Just now, the Duan Rong who had been slaughtering everyone in the case file seemed to have walked out of the file at this moment and come directly before Xie Daohan's corpse!

Yang Zhen knew very well that Xie Daohan had been lying in wait for Duan Rong these past few days, but now, he was dead!

At this time, the Coroner Liu Kui had already finished writing the brief autopsy report. He held it in his hand, scanned it quickly one more time to ensure no important details were missed, then signed it at the end, pressed his thumbprint, and handed it to Zhu Guibao.

Zhu Guibao took the report and hurried to the rear office!

Yang Zhen's eyes jumped; he discovered that Xie Daohan's corpse was covered in a strange, vivid red, which was clearly abnormal!

Yang Zhen turned his head to look at Liu Kui and said, "Why is the Head Constable's skin so vividly red?"

Liu Kui's expression shifted, and he said, "He was poisoned!"

"What kind of poison?"

Liu Kui shook his head and said, "I have never seen this poison before! However, I used a piece of meat to test it and found that its corrosive intensity is far greater than Corpse Rot Poison!"

Yang Zhen's eyes were filled with shock. He knew about Corpse Rot Poison, but the poison that had killed Head Constable Xie was actually even more violent than Corpse Rot Poison!

Yang Zhen suddenly remembered one thing.

The evil doctor Shen Ping, having been implicated in the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case, nearly died in prison; when he was later released, he had only one breath left, and it was Xiao Zongting of the Yuanshun Escort Agency who saved him.

And the place where Shen Ping recovered from his injuries was Duan Rong's Liu Lu.

"Could it be..." Thinking of this, a look of extreme fear flashed through Yang Zhen's eyes!

(End of this chapter)