Chapter 159: The Heart-Stealing Mystery (3)

If they hadn't guessed wrong, then Su Mufeng would be a major challenge for them!

One hour later.

The sky was completely dark. A few oil lamps were lit in the study, and the three of them were each occupying a corner, flipping through case files.

A lean figure rushed into the room like a whirlwind. Cheng Hang grabbed a porcelain pot and a water cup, gulping down several cups before he could catch his breath; his legs were almost run off!

Lv Jin asked anxiously, "How was it?"

Wiping his sweat haphazardly, Cheng Hang panted while nodding happily, replying, "According to the personal maids of the three young ladies, the day before they were harmed, they did indeed see Su Mufeng, and they all had more or less physical contact with him."

Sure enough!

Zhuo Qing snapped her fingers and said, "Among Su Mufeng's students, only these young ladies encountered danger; perhaps that is the reason!"

Cheng Hang suddenly thought of something and cried out in a low voice, "If that's really the case, then his target tonight is..."

The three of them looked straight at Gu Yun, who was bowing her head to flip through the files. They saw her slowly raise her head, her bright eyes lifting slightly, and she smiled with full excitement: "Me!"

"Impossible."

In the front hall of the General's Mansion, Su Ling and Su Yu were eating. Gu Yun had rushed back to discuss with Su Ling, hoping he could reduce the number of night patrols in the General's Mansion; otherwise, with the complex terrain and tight security of the General's Mansion, she feared the murderer wouldn't dare appear! Who would have thought that before she even finished speaking, she would be rejected without room for negotiation by Su Ling's cold, hard voice.

"Why?" Gu Yun frowned. "I heard the celebration starts in a month, and your Emperor also hopes to solve this case quickly. Now that there's a chance to catch the murderer, why won't you cooperate?" Did he not want to catch the murderer?

"The General's Mansion has the General's Mansion's rules." He had heard about the heart-stealing cases; the murderer's methods were extremely cruel, plucking hearts and draining blood, causing the city to be in a state of panic. Women of even slight reputation were terrified, yet she was stupid enough to want to act as bait for someone! Had Dan Yulan become so incompetent?!

"It's just for one night." Gu Yun naturally knew that military discipline was the most important thing in the army, and she could understand that the General's Mansion had its rules, but there was a reason for this; surely one night would be fine!

"No." Su Ling refused again. Did she want to die that much?!

Gu Yun took a deep breath, swallowed the anger in her chest, and replied coldly, "Fine."

After saying this, Gu Yun turned to leave. Su Yu, who had been sitting to the side, asked anxiously, "Where are you going?"

Gu Yun glanced sideways at Su Ling's dark face, which looked as if someone owed him millions, and sneered, "I'll stay at the Prime Minister's Mansion for these few days. Lou Xiyan shouldn't have so many rules! Anyway, the murderer's target is me; wherever I am, he should go there."

After saying this, Gu Yun turned and walked away. Su Ling's eagle eyes narrowed slightly, and he roared, "Stop!"

Gu Yun's footsteps stalled. She turned back slowly, meeting his black eyes with a cold gaze. On Su Ling's sharp-angled side profile, the traces of his clenched jaw were clearly visible, showing the anger he was trying hard to suppress.

Before Su Ling could say anything, Su Yu had already started to flare up. "Qing Mo, get this straight: you are a person of the General's Mansion. What does it mean to stay at the Prime Minister's Mansion! No!"

Gu Yun sneered, crossing her arms over her chest, and asked, "The security in the General's Mansion is so tight that the murderer might not appear. If we let the murderer remain at large, more innocent women will die. So, according to the two great generals, how should this matter be handled?" Who said the General's Mansion had its rules? She respected their rules, so what were they yelling about?

Su Yu was momentarily speechless and looked at Su Ling beside him. Su Ling suddenly stood up and closed in on her, stopping in front of her. His tall figure almost completely enveloped her. Gu Yun stood there quietly, letting his sharp eagle eyes glare at her. Just when Gu Yun thought he was going to explode, she heard him say coldly, "Su Yu, go make arrangements. Only for one night! Let her stay in the Yitian Courtyard tonight."

The words were directed at Su Yu, but his black eyes had been looking at Gu Yun the whole time.

Yitian Courtyard? Gu Yun was amused; this name was truly wuxia-like.

Su Ling's attitude had suddenly done a 180-degree turn. Gu Yun was a bit puzzled and wanted to say something, but Su Ling had already brushed past her and exited the front hall.

Looking back at his proud, lonely figure, Gu Yun really couldn't figure out what this man was thinking! Su Yu was also confused about what he was thinking; his older brother had just been so firm, so why had he agreed now?

In the spacious room, a large bed was placed simply, with a low table beside it; there were no decorations. Although the moonlight wasn't very bright tonight, without layers of light gauze curtains, the situation in the room could still be barely seen.

On the large bed, a woman lay on her side, her eyes lightly closed, looking as if she had already fallen asleep.

The weather was too hot, so the two wooden windows were open. The night breeze could easily blow in, and just as easily, a lean, dark shadow entered the room.

After the shadow flew in, he didn't immediately walk to the woman's bed but stood by the window for a while. For a long time, he walked to the bed, staring at the woman sleeping peacefully, and stood there blankly again.

Suddenly, he walked to the low table, picked up a cup, and smashed it hard against the floor. The sound of the porcelain cup shattering was so harsh and clear in the quiet night.

Gu Yun's brows furrowed tightly, and her sharp eyes snapped open, but the shadow was already trying to leap out of the window.

"You want to leave just after arriving!" Her cold voice had no trace of post-sleep confusion. The shadow accelerated his speed under his feet. Gu Yun stepped on the edge of the bed and lunged toward the shadow, strangling the black-clad man's neck from behind. The black-clad man felt pain, and his figure stalled; he hadn't expected this woman to have such sharp skills. The black-clad man turned sideways and threw a punch at Gu Yun's abdomen. Gu Yun took advantage of the momentum to turn sideways, using her knee to strike the black-clad man's spine hard.

The black-clad man's eyes darkened, and his hand reached for his waist. Gu Yun only saw a flash of silver light. She wanted to retreat to avoid it, but the black-clad man's other hand dragged her arm and wouldn't let go. She had no chance to retreat. Fearing that the Ice Refining Sword would be too sensitive and startle the murderer when he entered, she hadn't brought it with her. Now, unarmed, she was truly in a passive position!

Gu Yun gritted her teeth secretly, deciding to meet him head-on, sticking close to the black-clad man. She was shorter than him, so perhaps she could dodge this sword.

But before she could move, she felt her waist tighten suddenly. When she came to her senses, she was already wrapped in someone's arms, and that silver light had been intercepted by a pair of large hands. The smell of blood permeated the room, and a smear of bright red was sliding down drop by drop along the gaps between his fingers. Gu Yun widened her eyes, looking at the man beside her. Ao Tian, in black clothes and silver hair, his face pale, gloomy, and cold, showed no trace of pain, as if that drop of blood wasn't his. In the dark night, such a man radiating a cold, charming temperament not only made Gu Yun feel a bit flustered, but the black-clad man was also stunned.

Ao Tian channeled his Qi into his palm and twisted his hand back. The black-clad man immediately felt a powerful force strike him, and the soft sword actually slipped from his hand. The black-clad man panicked, turned around, and leaped toward the window.

And in the courtyard, it was already surrounded by soldiers holding long spears. The black-clad man's eyes narrowed slightly. What a "catching a turtle in a jar" scheme! It seemed that if they hadn't deliberately lured him, it wouldn't have been easy for him to enter the General's Mansion!

Gu Yun grabbed a silk quilt from the bed, tore it into long strips, wrapped Ao Tian's bleeding hand, and asked anxiously, "Are you alright?"

The bright red blood quickly stained the pure white silk quilt. Ao Tian withdrew his hand and replied coldly, "I'm fine." After saying this, he walked out of the room without looking back. Gu Yun felt it was inexplicable; was this man's personality too strange?!

Both of them walked to the courtyard. No one noticed that in the corner of the wall, a complex light was flashing in a pair of deep black eyes, and the long sword held tightly in that person's hand had already been unsheathed. However, he was still a step too late.

Su Ling retreated from Gu Yun's courtyard with an expressionless face, as if he had never appeared.

In the courtyard, countless torches had already been lit, illuminating the small yard. The black-clad man was surrounded by soldiers. He also understood his situation and stopped resisting, just looking coldly at Gu Yun, who was walking toward him.

"I underestimated you, little girl." The black-clad man spoke, and it was actually a clear, melodious female voice.

With a light wave of her plain hand, the black-clad man gracefully pulled off the black veil on her face, and a flower-like, jade-like face suddenly appeared.

"It's you!"

Gu Yuexin!

After catching the person, the Ministry of Justice immediately interrogated Gu Yuexin. She admitted that she had killed all the people, but the reason was somewhat ridiculous: killing people to protect Su Mufeng from being harassed?

The Ministry of Justice hall was a bit too quiet. Gu Yun said in a low voice, "I think there are still suspicious points!"

Criminal cases required 100% evidence; the entire chain of evidence had to be complete and without omissions. In this heart-stealing case, if Gu Yuexin was the murderer, there were too many suspicious points!

Dan Yulan laughed heartily and said, "Miss Qing, please speak freely."

Walking to the middle of the hall, Gu Yun explained the suspicious points she had identified one by one. "First, although Gu Yuexin's martial arts are not weak, they aren't very high either. If it weren't for the deliberate withdrawal of half the night patrol soldiers, she might have been captured before she even found my room. The murderer could come and go freely in a place with such tight security as the General's Mansion; it really doesn't look like something Gu Yuexin could do. Second, killing three people in a row with such skilled methods, yet she can't explain the details of her killings—this absolutely doesn't make sense. Third, her attitude of being eager to plead guilty might indeed be to protect someone, and that person could possibly be... the murderer!"

Cheng Hang opposed first. "You think Young Master Su is the murderer? I don't think so!" Young Master Su's hemophobia was known to everyone in the Su family, and the Su family had even found many doctors for this; it couldn't be faked!

Zhuo Qing, who had been silent, finally raised her head and said with a worried face, "Gu Yuexin said that the reason she could make the victims unable to shout or move was because the Gu Yue family used illusions to make the victims unable to move. If it's really that powerful, it's possible that Su Mufeng was also put under an illusion, and he might have killed people without even knowing it himself. And what prompted him to kill was the contact from women; as long as a woman deliberately touched him, he would kill uncontrollably!"

This was the so-called hypnotic suggestion. If that was really the case, then the real murderer should be the person who hypnotized him!

Kill uncontrollably? The expressions of everyone in the courtroom changed. Gu Yun looked quite relaxed. She smiled and said loudly, "These are just our guesses. We need to be prepared tonight; whether the murderer comes or not, we'll have to leave it to fate!"

"Let me be the bait this time. I must solve the mystery of the so-called illusion!" Zhuo Qing suddenly requested. Lou Xiyan frowned. "Can't someone else do it?" It was too dangerous.

Zhuo Qing shook her head gently, and Gu Yun said straightforwardly, "If there really is a so-called illusion, she is the only one who can solve this mystery!"

Zhuo Qing was not only the most outstanding chief forensic examiner in recent years but also the instructor responsible for training psychological counseling professionals in the police department. If Su Mufeng was really hypnotized, Zhuo Qing should be able to help him!

Yin Hour, General's Mansion.

The sky was almost bright. There was no movement inside or outside the room, and the entire General's Mansion seemed quieter than usual. Tonight's moonlight was exceptionally bright, shining into the room through the open windows. Zhuo Qing, lying on the bed, closed her eyes slightly, watching the situation in the inner room.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 160 =====