Chapter 289: Faint Bloodstains

Xia Shuangshuang wept for a while in Xia Zhongyang's arms, her emotions slowly calming down.

She raised her head, wiped her tear-blurred eyes, and suddenly saw Xueqing standing beside the carriage.

Xueqing was twisting her handkerchief with both hands, her expression clearly somewhat strange.

Xia Shuangshuang's heart gave a sudden jolt.

She recalled that the birthmark near the navel in the Spring Palace Painting of her own naked body was almost exactly the same as the real birthmark on her own navel.

Whenever she bathed, only Xueqing served her closely; only she could see the birthmark so clearly when wiping her body!

Xueqing had been standing behind Xia Shuangshuang just now, and when Xia Shuangshuang unfolded that painting, she had seen it too. In that instant, Xia Shuangshuang was shocked and angry, but she was panicked!

Xia Shuangshuang stared at Xueqing, leaned into Xia Zhongyang's ear, and whispered for a while.

As Xia Zhongyang listened, his expression changed; he turned his head abruptly and glared at Xueqing, who was standing by the carriage.

The moment Xueqing saw the father and daughter chatting and suddenly looking at her, she became even more flustered.

Xia Zhongyang naturally saw Xueqing's panic, and a flash of cruelty crossed his livid face. "This girl was trained by my own hands. I never expected her to be so suicidal!"

After a bout of commotion, everyone's luggage was finally loaded onto the regulated official carriages!

Before Duan Rong boarded, Ximen Yong held Duan Rong's hand and thanked him profusely. He had seen with his own eyes how Duan Rong had stepped forward when Ximen Kankan was in danger, and now he regarded Duan Rong as one of his own kin.

Just then, the Ximen Family's Personal Attendant, Shi Kang, suddenly came over panting and handed a scabbard to Ximen Yong.

Ximen Yong examined the scabbard and personally fitted it onto the Minghong Saber at Duan Rong's waist!

Duan Rong's previous scabbard had been shattered by the Internal Breath bursting from the spear tip when he had held back his own strength to block Xia Shuangshuang's Long Spear.

He had not expected that in such a short time, Ximen Yong would have had Shi Kang find a suitable scabbard and even fit it for him personally.

"Nephew, on this trip to the Sect, you must be careful yourself!"

"Many thanks, Uncle! Please take care, Uncle! Duan Rong takes his leave!"

After saying this, Duan Rong jumped onto the carriage and sat beside Ximen Kankan; Xiao Yu was also sitting not far away.

Her eyes curiously sized up Duan Rong; she truly had not expected that Duan Rong's relationship with the Ximen family would be so deep.

During this farewell, Ximen Yong had said more to Duan Rong than he had to his own son, Ximen Kankan. What kind of relationship was this?!

Seeing that the luggage and personnel were all in place, Zhu Qunxiang looked at the shadow of the pointer on the sundial not far from the city gate. It was just about to turn to the Si hour, so they had not missed the auspicious time for departure.

Just as Zhu Qunxiang was about to call for departure, Fan Yuanhai walked over with a smile and said, "Brother Zhu, you all go ahead! I have some private matters to attend to. Once I am finished, I will catch up with you as soon as possible."

Zhu Qunxiang gave Fan Yuanhai a strange look, thinking that in this backwater, what private matters could he have to attend to, but he still chuckled and said, "Brother Fan, go ahead and handle your business. As long as you catch up before we reach Shenyun Prefecture, that will be fine."

Fan Yuanhai laughed heartily: "Brother Zhu, you are joking. How could it take that long? Before nightfall today, I will definitely catch up with you."

Zhu Qunxiang smiled: "I was just joking with you. These two carriages are fully loaded with luggage, so our speed cannot be fast. If Brother Fan rides a fast horse, you will be able to catch up very quickly."

"I understand. Then thank you, Brother Zhu." After saying this, Fan Yuanhai cupped his hands and left.

Following that, Zhu Qunxiang had the constables set off a few strings of firecrackers, and the four imposing and majestic carriages drove out of the East Gate of Xiangu County amidst the crackling sound of the firecrackers.

The first of the four carriages carried the Sect Emissary; Zhu Qunxiang, Lu Qingfeng, Wang Shanshan, Lv Qingzhu, and A Mo were all inside, with only Fan Yuanhai absent due to his resignation.

The second carriage carried the seven newly promoted Sect Registered Disciples: Tao Rong, Ximen Kankan, Duan Rong, Xia Shuangshuang, Shen Mizhi, Xiao Yu, and Jiang Qingyu.

The last two carriages were fully loaded with luggage, the hardwood wheels rolling over the ground and making a creaking sound.

Meanwhile, Fan Yuanhai was moving against the flow; he left the noisy stream of carriages and people and walked alone along West Street toward the County Office.

Just a moment ago, hearing Clerk Qin tell him the news of Xie Daohan's death, Fan Yuanhai had been filled with sighs, and the bits and pieces of his time with Xie Daohan kept flashing through his mind.

He suddenly remembered that gathering he and Xie Daohan had at the Babao Building the night before the Selection of Heroes began.

At that time, besides wanting to invite Xie Daohan for a drink and to reminisce, Fan Yuanhai had also wanted to inquire about some news regarding the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case.

The reason Fan Yuanhai was so concerned about this case was that he himself had stumbled on it. It was because he had not handled this case well that he had been marginalized by the Sect. If not for that, they would not have delegated such trivial matters as supervising the Selection of Heroes to him.

At this rate, he had basically no hope of advancing to an Inner Sect Disciple.

Fan Yuanhai remembered that that night, a drunken Xie Daohan had said that he would keep pursuing this case! He would never give up!

In the more than half a year that Fan Yuanhai had been away from Xiangu County, he did not know how many times in his dreams he had unconsciously found himself re-enacting the details of the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case in his mind.

It was like a puzzle that you were deeply entangled with but could not solve, which would always come to mind unconsciously at many times.

And just at the moment he thought of Xie Daohan's drunken face, Fan Yuanhai suddenly shivered.

A feeling suddenly rose in his heart; it was an intuition!

Perhaps Xie Daohan's death was related to the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case.

The person who committed the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case had actually been in Xiangu County all along!

Fan Yuanhai had comforted himself countless times that since he and Xie Daohan had tracked it repeatedly without any clues, it meant the perpetrator of the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu Case was long gone from Xiangu County.

It was just that sometimes, when he comforted himself too many times, the answer that emerged from the depths of his heart was the opposite.

There was a mouse that had been hiding in some corner, clearing away all traces leading to itself so that no one could track it.

Perhaps Xie Daohan's death was because this mouse had suddenly shown its tail again.

It was with such doubts that Fan Yuanhai suddenly decided to return to the County Office at the city gate; he would not be reconciled if he did not take a look!

Inside the Xiangu County Ya Men, the copper lock on the door of Xie Daohan's office as Head Constable had remained locked.

This was still locked from when Xie Daohan left at noon on the first day after the Selection of Heroes ended, and now more than ten days had passed.

The Head Constable's office was considered an important area in the Ya Men, containing many important official documents. According to the usual customs in the Ya Men, one could not enter or exit at will without an order if the Head Constable was not there.

After Xie Daohan died, because there was no order from the County Magistrate, Zhu Baogui had not dared to break in to open it. On one hand, it was not in accordance with the rules, and on the other, he was afraid of people gossiping. They would say that just as Head Constable Xie had left, he was coveting the position of Head Constable and breaking into the office.

Zhu Baogui had been wandering the world for many years and had long tasted the bitterness of those who spread rumors; sometimes, groundless things could crush a person. The more it was at a time like this, the more one had to be cautious!

To the east of the Head Constable's office were three rooms for the Constables. Among them, the room right next to the Head Constable's office was the one where the Coroner Liu Kui, Yang Zhen, and Zhu Baogui were located.

After Xie Lei died, Yang Zhen had almost become Xie Daohan's follower, so naturally, he was very close.

And the Coroner was also considered a core part of the criminal justice sector, so Liu Kui also often had to report problems to Xie Daohan.

As for Zhu Baogui, it was purely because he was well-connected and often curried favor with Xie Daohan.

These three people all had their own reasons for being in this Constable's room adjacent to Xie Daohan's.

At this moment, in this Constable room, there were only Liu Kui and Zhu Baogui. And beside Zhu Baogui, Yang Zhen's seat was empty.

Yang Zhen had not shown his face for an entire day yesterday, and he had not come over to sign in this morning either.

Liu Kui was looking down, writing something; he suddenly glanced at Yang Zhen's seat and said, "Old Zhu, go to Yang Zhen's house and take a look. Is he sick? He hasn't come to sign in for two days in a row."

Zhu Baogui smacked his lips, rubbed his chin, and said, "This kid is a bit strange, huh!"

"Indeed!" Liu Kui said, "And things haven't been peaceful lately. Even Head Constable Xie has been killed; you should go take a look, lest some accident has happened."

Zhu Baogui had originally been resting his feet on the table, leaning back in his seat; hearing Liu Kui's words, his head buzzed, and he nearly fell off his seat.

Because he suddenly thought, Head Constable Xie had been killed, and this kid was Head Constable Xie's follower, could it be...

Liu Kui was right; not coming to sign in for two days was indeed abnormal, and it was simply not this kid's style.

Thinking of this, Zhu Baogui immediately jumped up from his seat, rushed out of the Constable room, exited the County Office, and walked quickly toward Yang Zhen's house in Wutong Lane.

Not long after Zhu Baogui rushed out of the Constable room, Fan Yuanhai walked in.

Inside the Constable room, only Liu Kui was there flipping through documents; seeing a dark shadow flash at the door, he thought Zhu Baogui had returned, and just as he was about to speak to him, he saw clearly that the person who had entered was actually Fan Yuanhai.

Because of handling the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu cases, Fan Yuanhai had later become very close with Xie Daohan.

Therefore, he had also dealt with Liu Kui; Fan Yuanhai had once asked Liu Kui in detail about the autopsy details of the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu cases.

Seeing Fan Yuanhai enter, Liu Kui immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble one pays respects to the Imperial Envoy!"

"Little Liu, no need for such formalities!" Fan Yuanhai said warmly, "I have come for a matter."

As Fan Yuanhai spoke, his expression suddenly changed, and he said, "How did Xie Daohan die?"

Liu Kui's heart skipped a beat; he had not expected that the first person to inquire about this matter would be Fan Yuanhai!

Fan Yuanhai was a Sect Emissary, holding the Taiyi Order, and possessed the authority to make on-the-spot decisions regarding life and death in the region. If he wanted to inquire about this case, he had the power and responsibility to do so.

The morgue was sticky, and it was filled with a thick, putrid, and moldy smell.

Fan Yuanhai looked at the mutilated corpse before him, his brow twitching.

Xie Daohan had died a miserable death; his head had been sliced into two halves!

This corpse had been fished out of the cold lake water the morning before last; although the weather was bitingly cold with spring chill, twenty-four hours had passed, and quite dense, large and small lividity spots had already appeared.

Although lividity spots covered the body, Xie Daohan's bright red skin color, like that of a red-linked snake, showed at a glance that he had been poisoned by some kind of bizarre toxin.

It was just that Xie Daohan had True Qi protecting his body, yet he had still allowed this poison to erode his internal organs and spread throughout his entire body; for a moment, Fan Yuanhai found it quite difficult to understand.

Fan Yuanhai said, "What kind of poison did he succumb to?"

Liu Kui said, "I have never seen this poison before. But it is more violent than Corpse Rot Poison!"

"More violent than Corpse Rot Poison?" Fan Yuanhai's expression changed slightly.

"Correct!"

In order to investigate the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu cases, he had once carefully studied Corpse Rot Poison and knew well the power of this toxin. If the dosage of this Corpse Rot Poison were large enough, it was feared that even an expert in the True Qi Realm would inevitably be thrown into a panic.

That this toxin, which made Xie Daohan's entire body skin bright red, was even more powerful than Corpse Rot Poison—no wonder it could make Xie Daohan fall victim to it!

But Fan Yuanhai himself was a True Qi Realm expert; he knew very well that True Qi was dense and fine, completely different from Internal Breath.

As long as True Qi could be circulated, it could instantly seal off patches of tiny, minute blood vessels, and then, along those fine vessels, force the toxin out bit by bit.

To deal with a True Qi Realm expert, relying solely on poison would not work!

No matter how powerful the poison, when encountering a True Qi Realm expert, it could only serve as an aid, not as a reliance!

"How do you view this case?" Facing Xie Daohan's mutilated corpse, Fan Yuanhai suddenly asked in a deep voice.

Because they had dealt with each other during the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu cases, Fan Yuanhai knew deeply that Liu Kui not only possessed profound skills in performing autopsies as a Coroner, but his ability for deduction and reasoning also far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Liu Kui said, "I believe this case and the Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu cases were the work of one person!"

Fan Yuanhai's eyelids twitched; he turned his head, his gaze pressing as he asked, "What makes you say that?"

Liu Kui said, "First, both involved hidden weapons like flying needles. Second, both had traces of poison usage. Moreover, Head Constable Xie had been relentlessly pursuing the Xie Lei case; it is very likely he discovered something. Therefore, I feel the probability that it was the work of the same person is extremely high!"

Liu Kui's insight had been discussed with Zhu Baogui at the initial autopsy scene.

This insight of Liu Kui's was exactly the same as Fan Yuanhai's intuition at the city gate.

But intuition was, after all, just intuition; it needed to be verified.

At this moment, Fan Yuanhai, just like Shen Yanliu, saw at a glance that there was a huge contradiction in this conclusion.

Liu Kui was not a Martial Artist at all, and Zhu Baogui was merely a Martial Artist at the Inner Breath Realm Small Success; they could not possibly understand the terror of a True Qi Realm expert like Fan Yuanhai and Shen Yanliu did!

The only ones who could kill a True Qi Realm expert were other True Qi Realm experts!

Even if poison was used, how easy was it to stop a True Qi Realm expert from circulating their Qi to force out the poison?

If one had not attained the True Qi Realm oneself, it was very likely that one would be slaughtered by the True Qi Realm expert upon getting close!

The gap between major realms was like a natural chasm; how could one cross it by relying only on external objects?

Therefore, the one who killed Xie Daohan must be a True Qi Realm expert!

And why would a True Qi Realm expert need to use poison and hidden weapons when killing Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu? This simply did not make sense!

Fan Yuanhai was silent for a while, then said, "Where is the detailed autopsy report?"

Liu Kui said, "It is over at the Constable room!"

Fan Yuanhai stood up and covered Xie Daohan's mutilated corpse with the white cloth again.

The two then left the morgue and walked toward the Constable room.

Fan Yuanhai suddenly said, "I remember that according to established practice, once the detailed autopsy report is out, the body can be buried, right?"

Liu Kui knew what Fan Yuanhai meant and sighed, "Head Constable Xie was somewhat cruel in managing his household; those house slaves and Miscellaneous Servants, upon hearing he was dead, actually divided up the valuables and soft goods in the house and scattered."

Fan Yuanhai shook his head; no wonder Xie Daohan cared so much about Xie Lei's death—with his nephew gone, there wasn't even anyone to wear mourning clothes or bury him.

Fan Yuanhai pinched out a silver note and stuffed it into Liu Kui's hand, saying, "Buy a thin coffin, pick a suitable time, and bury him."

Liu Kui accepted the silver note, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble one thanks the Imperial Envoy on behalf of Head Constable Xie!"

The two returned to the Constable room, and Liu Kui found the autopsy report from Zhu Baogui's desk and handed it to Fan Yuanhai.

Fan Yuanhai took the autopsy report, found a seat at random, sat down, and began to read it carefully.

Just then, Zhu Baogui suddenly rushed in from outside and shouted, "Kui, this is bad! That kid Yang Zhen, he really is in trouble!"

Liu Kui looked at the jumpy Zhu Baogui with a blank expression, only to see that he was holding a sheathless barrier saber in his hand, and there was a faint bloodstain on the tip of the blade.

(End of chapter)