Chapter 126: Uncle and Nephew

Lin Zi glanced at the sky and asked the coroner gravely, "If we begin the autopsy immediately, will there be enough time?"

The two coroners knew the matter was serious; cold sweat beaded on their foreheads, yet they could only drop to their knees and beg for mercy: "My lord, at most two quarters of an hour remain before nightfall; it truly is too late."

Forcing us to perform the autopsy would be forcing us to die."

Lin Zi sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Burn the corpse."

The two coroners thanked him repeatedly, carried the corpse to the courtyard, where four Rank Dan Xiu from the office had already made preparations; together they spat fire from their bellies, and in no time the corpse was burned to ashes.

The coroner carefully swept the ashes into a clay jar and then handed it over to He Jun's family.

"Return to the office," Lin Zi said desolately.

Everyone then hurried back to the Zhan Cheng Office before nightfall.

At the Nancheng Patrol Station, before Xu Yuan arrived, Lin Zi had already made follow-up arrangements.

Inspector Zhu Sili, along with his deputy and twenty captains of various ranks, remained behind; He Jun's former subordinates all returned to the office with them.

Lin Zi had long arranged temporary lodging for Xu Yuan within the office, but Xu Yuan had no mind to rest: "My lord, I cannot sleep either; may I first review the case files?"

Lin Zi felt somewhat gratified: "The Commander did not misjudge; Inspector Xu is capable of handling affairs. There is no need to review the files; I shall first give you a general overview of the case..."

"Let me do it," a hoarse voice sounded from beside them. Lin Zi looked somewhat worried: "Old Lu, can you manage?"

Inspector Lu Qiuyang was older than Lin Zi, with graying beard and hair, and at this moment he appeared haggard and grief-stricken.

"He Jun was my deputy," Lu Qiuyang explained bitterly to Xu Yuan. "He was also my nephew. Today, it should have been my turn to patrol Nancheng, but to welcome Inspector Xu, Jun voluntarily took my place..."

Xu Yuan bowed his head in sorrow: "Senior, please accept my condolences."

Lin Zi patted his old comrade's back, truly not knowing what comforting words to say.

"I can hold on," Lu Qiuyang said, a fire burning within him. "Before I slay this evil spirit, I will certainly hold on."

Lin Zi nodded and let him take over the explanation.

"This case first broke three and a half months ago; today, Jun is the thirty-first victim!"

"I volunteered to explain this case not to show off, but because I am indeed the most suitable person."

The location of the first incident three and a half months ago was right in Wuliu Lane, where I live; therefore, I was the first to rush there from the office."

The victim was a young man named Kong Aifu, who had come from the Nine Streets District outside the city to work; he rented a room at the head of the lane."

The corpse had been dragged and hung from the beam; all his internal organs had been eaten hollow by the evil spirit, and fresh blood had flowed all over the room."

"After that, similar cases occurred every few days. The interval was sometimes as long as five days, sometimes as short as two."

These people were all killed inside their houses or in their courtyards; the door gods on the doors remained intact. Among them were several wealthy households that even possessed almanacs from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau; we were also puzzled: how did the evil spirit get in?"

"If one were to say the evil spirit was so powerful that it could ignore door gods and auspicious objects, that does not seem right either; that thing kills only one person at a time. If it were truly terrifyingly strong, why bother with such petty skirmishes?"

"But today..." Lu Qiuyang ground his teeth. "It could enter the Purification Bureau office directly and kill someone. Could it be that we underestimated it before?"

Song Lu spoke up to guess: "Could this evil spirit be... preparing some诡 ritual?"

Even low-level monsters in Ghost Wushan possess the ability to perform "rituals."

Such continuous blood sacrifices indeed seem like an evil spirit preparing in advance for some "ritual."

Lin Zi slowly shook his head: "We considered this possibility. But... is a preparation time of three and a half months not too long?"

Thirty-plus people sound like a lot, but for a "ritual" requiring several months of preparation, it seems rather few."

According to the Purification Bureau's past experience handling similar incidents, if several months of preparation are needed, the number of blood sacrifices must be at least several hundred."

Lin Zi added: "During these three-plus months, the entire Zhan Cheng Office endured humiliation; for example, Inspector Lu once personally led his captains on risky night patrols, persisting for five days."

Lu Qiuyang gritted his teeth: "We patrolled Chengxi, and it ate people in Chengdong; we searched Chengbei, and it wreaked havoc in Nancheng! In five days, three were killed..."

Xu Yuan asked: "With so many murders, was there not a single trace?"

"The scenes were covered in fresh blood, yet no trace of the evil spirit was left. Moreover, we dared not leave corpses overnight, so the clues obtainable from autopsies were extremely limited. Today..." At this point, Lu Qiuyang cast a grateful glance at Xu Yuan: "Had it not been for Inspector Xu, we would have overlooked even the fact that Jun had violated the rules before his death."

Everyone frowned together: "Why would Inspector He violate the rules?"

For any member of the Purification Bureau, this would be an impossible low-level mistake.

If it were something like crossing a river or traveling at night, sometimes forced by an evil spirit, one might be compelled to break the rules."

But "excessive speech"... Could the evil spirit possess some诡 technique capable of controlling bodies?"

Xu Yuan had other thoughts in mind, but they were merely vague guesses; now was not the time to speak them."

The door to the side hall was knocked upon; someone outside said, "My lord, subordinate Ren Hong."

Lin Zi was about to say "come in" when suddenly a nearby inspector moved agilely behind the door, gently pulled it open a crack, confirmed the person outside with a glance, then turned to Lin Zi and said, "My lord, it is him."

"Come in."

Seeing Fu Jingyu frowned deeply: He Jun had died inside the Nancheng Patrol Station, leaving the entire Zhan Cheng Office in a state of panic.

In the past, in such offices, people could walk around freely at night.

An evil spirit would never be so blind as to dare enter the Purification Bureau office and cause chaos.

Ren Hong's position was also inspector; after entering, he held a stack of confessions: "My lord, the nine captains who patrolled Nancheng with He Jun today have all been interrogated."

He presented the testimonies, then summarized: "From the time someone last saw Inspector He to the time his death was discovered, only two quarters of an hour passed."

No one saw anything enter Inspector He's room; even more strangely, no one heard any sound coming from inside Inspector He's room."

Lin Zi said: "This evil spirit possesses a诡 technique that isolates the inside from the outside!"

The stack of testimonies circulated among the crowd; before long, it reached Xu Yuan and Seeing Fu Jingyu's hands.

Xu Yuan examined it carefully; unfortunately, lacking experience, he could not discern any problem.

Seeing Fu Jingyu flipped through it several times before passing it to Song Lu.

Lin Zi waved his hand and said, "Enough for today; tomorrow we will go to the Nancheng Patrol Station and examine it carefully."

As they dispersed, Lin Zi specifically instructed: "Everyone must travel in pairs."

(End of this chapter)