Chapter 1: Murder Case

"Name?"

"Lu Xingzhou."

Inside the Demon Suppression Bureau, Sheng Yuanyao paused her brush, looked up at the other person with some curiosity: "That name is not a good omen. Is it your real name?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly, his voice very magnetic and pleasant to hear: "It sounds cultured at first, but there are quite a few people with the same name. In fact, I have even seen people name their children 'Shang', 'Wang', and the like; Miss, why take it so seriously?"

Sheng Yuanyao's eyes shifted slightly, as if reminded of something by the character 'Shang', and she examined Lu Xingzhou more closely.

This man wore white robes with a silver sash, his face was like jade, gentle and refined; even though Sheng Yuanyao was used to seeing noble young masters in the capital, she felt this one's handsomeness and temperament were enough to rank in the first tier, truly a stranger on the road like jade.

Regrettably, he was a cripple, and at this moment sat in a wheelchair.

Sheng Yuanyao was still relatively new in the Demon Suppression Bureau, but her insight was not poor; she could see that this man's leg muscles had already atrophied, something that could not be faked.

A real cripple, and crippled for a long time; a pity.

She pulled herself together, her expression becoming serious again: "Age?"

"Nineteen."

"Judging by your accent, you are a local of Xiazhou?"

"Indeed born here; at eleven or twelve I went south with my family to visit relatives, and only returned half a year ago."

"You entered the Huo family's old residence yesterday at the first quarter of noon; what were you doing there?"

"I am a Pill Master, so naturally I understand healing." Lu Xingzhou answered calmly: "The Huo family elder recently had some angina and asked me to treat him; for the past half month I have gone there every day. Miss, you can ask around and find out."

"Coming again today is for the same reason?" Sheng Yuanyao stared tightly at Lu Xingzhou.

An invisible pressure came; Lu Xingzhou's heart stirred slightly, sweat soon seeped from his forehead in response to the pressure, and he said somewhat strainedly: "Of course it is; the elder Huo's treatment is not finished, it was agreed upon. Miss, bringing me to the Demon Suppression Bureau to ask these nonsensical questions, what is the meaning?"

Sheng Yuanyao withdrew the pressure and said coldly: "First, that was not the elder Huo. The entire Huo clan has moved to the capital; only an old steward remains in the old residence."

Lu Xingzhou was stunned: "I did not know this; I did not know the Huo family before, but seeing their grandeur I thought it was the elder."

Sheng Yuanyao stared tightly at him: "Second, yesterday at the end of the hour of Wei, the old Huo steward was found dead inside the house."

Lu Xingzhou immediately shook his head: "His angina was nearly cured; he would not die suddenly."

Sheng Yuanyao slammed the table: "Stop pretending to be confused while knowing the truth!"

"Miss, you don't mean to say he was murdered?" Lu Xingzhou was not intimidated by her threat; his expression instead returned to calm: "I entered yesterday at noon and stayed only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before leaving; by the hour of Wei I had already returned to Manshan. Whatever Miss means, it has nothing to do with me."

Sheng Yuanyao still stared tightly into Lu Xingzhou's eyes.

She was bluffing Lu Xingzhou, wanting to see his reaction. In fact, the old Huo steward was merely missing; the dead were other servants—all the servants of the Huo old residence with some seniority were dead, while the young servants in their teens were all alive; the situation was very strange.

According to the testimony of the surviving servants, when Mr. Lu left, the murder had indeed not yet occurred. And all the dead had their throats cut by sharp weapons, not poison; the possibility of poison administered in advance with delayed onset could be ruled out.

Sheng Yuanyao examined Lu Xingzhou's legs once more. She thought to herself that the vast Huo residence, covering more than ten qing, with the dead one in the east courtyard and one in the west wing, to secretly select and kill specific people without anyone noticing required a skill as invisible as a ghost, which did not seem like something the cripple before her could accomplish.

Moreover, that would require very thorough knowledge of the terrain throughout the Huo family's grounds; an outsider who merely went straight to the main house to treat an illness would find it hard to achieve this.

Judging from Lu Xingzhou's reaction, he did not seem to know what had happened. From all aspects he seemed to have little suspicion; rather, the missing old Huo steward had the greatest suspicion.

However, this person was at least the only outsider to have entered the Huo old residence on the day of the incident; no matter how light the suspicion, it could not be completely overlooked; it still needed careful investigation.

Sheng Yuanyao finally said: "You said you were already on the mountain at the hour of Wei; what is your proof?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "The pills I refined when I left were about to come out of the furnace; I was in a hurry to return to Manshan. Miss, you might as well return to Manshan with me to ask; just help me push the wheelchair."

Sheng Yuanyao would not push it herself; she called two eight-foot tall subordinates to help push, and followed all the way out of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

She was a capital official sent out for training, coming to Xiazhou to serve a two-year apprenticeship before returning; she never expected that only a few days after taking office, before even recognizing her subordinates' faces, she would encounter a major case involving twenty or thirty lives. Her heart was both angry and excited; angry because this murderer was essentially slapping her in the face; excited because choosing this line of work was precisely because solving cases was fun!

This was frontline gossip!

The cultivation atmosphere in Great Qian was thick. Xiazhou was quite far from the capital, considered a remote mountainous area, yet not impoverished. Because this place produced a vast amount of various medicinal herbs, it was one of the medicinal herb bases of Great Qian; here were many sects, families, and gangs of all sizes, all established relying on the trade of medicinal herbs.

Among them, some were not satisfied with being mere herb merchants, so they cultivated or hired Pill Masters to station there, refining finished pills for sale. Lu Xingzhou arrived in Xiazhou half a year ago; for some unknown reason, he was hired as the chief Pill Master by the Danxia Gang on Danxia Mountain east of the city; since then, the Danxia Gang, originally herb merchants, began to have the ability to refine and manufacture pills, developing quite promisingly.

Not to mention that most cultivators in the world can refine a few pills, but truly excellent ones are hard to find, and their status is very high. This Lu Xingzhou is said to be an eighth-rank Pill Master, a rank officially certified by the Pill Department; this rank is already considered quite good in remote areas, and at this age even more full of potential.

Lu Xingzhou was merely a nineteen-year-old youth. Although being a Pill Master does not require very high cultivation, it is a profession that needs a great deal of experience; it is already not easy for someone so young to attain a rank, let alone attain the eighth rank.

Danxia Mountain was not far from the Huo old residence; in fact, it was the neighboring mountain behind the Huo residence; this was probably also the reason the old Huo steward asked Lu Xingzhou to treat him. The mountain was not high, mainly slopes; Lu Xingzhou could go up and down in his wheelchair, though it was quite laborious.

In earlier years, Danxia Mountain was relatively primitive, with lush trees; there was once a dilapidated Taoist temple on the summit. Later, when no one lived in the temple, this mountain was occupied by the Danxia Gang, which built a fairly large base; the whole mountain was planted with medicinal herbs, and the air was pleasant.

Following Lu Xingzhou into the main pill room of the Danxia Gang, a huge pill furnace immediately came into Sheng Yuanyao's view. The pill furnace was already trembling slightly, and the scent of pills was faintly overflowing; Lu Xingzhou had not lied just now; indeed, newly refined pills were about to come out of the furnace.

Sheng Yuanyao's gaze fell on the little Daoist boy beside the pill furnace. The little Daoist was about five or six years old, with a chubby round face and a round Taoist bun, exquisitely carved like jade and extremely cute. At this moment, he seemed not to notice anyone had arrived at the door; he rubbed his small hands and cautiously took a stick to probe under the pill furnace, stirring and stirring, quietly pulling out several roasted sweet potatoes.

The scent of roasted sweet potatoes overwhelmed the scent of pills.

Sheng Yuanyao twitched the corners of her mouth.

These sweet potatoes were still a new import from the distant seas in recent years...

A child in charge of the fire for pill refining secretly roasting sweet potatoes with the pill fire; if it affected the formation of the pills, wouldn't Lu Xingzhou beat you to death?

"Ah, Master!" The little Daoist only then noticed Lu Xingzhou at the door, jumped up, ran over with a thump-thump, holding up the roasted sweet potato and smiling: "Master, eat the sweet potato."

Sheng Yuanyao felt this was simply a brazen face-slap, but Lu Xingzhou merely affectionately rubbed the little Daoist's chubby face: "You eat it; I will check the pills first."

"Oh..." The little Daoist glanced and saw Sheng Yuanyao, then held up the sweet potato to her: "Pretty sister, do you want to eat? It smells so good."

Sheng Yuanyao smiled and shook her head to indicate she would not eat. Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Miss, wait a moment; these pills are about to come out of the furnace; I must first take care of the tail. If Miss wishes to question others, please feel free."

After all, he was not a criminal; Sheng Yuanyao said nothing, watching him sit cross-legged beside the pill furnace to adjust the pill fire. After adjusting for a while, he sent a Fire-Boosting Art into the bottom of the furnace.

The furnace fire suddenly flared; a faint rosy light rose along the edge of the furnace lid, and the scent of pills overflowed.

Sheng Yuanyao watched the pill refining with great interest; even the two subordinates of the Demon Suppression Bureau who had come with her unconsciously held their breath, witnessing the scene of new pills coming out of the furnace.

The furnace lid slowly floated up; nine pills automatically floated out, rotating leisurely above the pill furnace.

Sheng Yuanyao's heart pounded wildly: "Eighth-rank Qi-Enhancing Pills, nine pills from one furnace, all of supreme quality... This was actually achieved after leaving for more than an hour, with only a boy tending the fire! It looks like eighth-rank pills, but an eighth-rank Pill Master absolutely cannot reach this level; he is not an eighth-rank Pill Master at all; he is seventh-rank! Very likely even seventh-rank upper grade!"

If entering the eighth rank at nineteen is called full of potential, what about a seventh-rank upper grade at nineteen?

That is a talent one in ten thousand, the kind that major powers fight to recruit! How could such a person hide in this remote place of Xiazhou, working for a ninth-rank gang like the Danxia Gang?

Just as she thought this, she saw Lu Xingzhou quietly scoop three pills into his sleeve, leaving only six rotating in the air, making it look as if this furnace had produced only six pills. The little Daoist reached out his small hand again and quietly took one away.

Lu Xingzhou glared at him; the little Daoist apologized with a smile, then touched each of the remaining five pills once.

Sheng Yuanyao watched helplessly as the Little Daoist absorbed part of the medicinal potency from the five supreme-grade pills, reducing their efficacy and downgrading them to superior-grade.

The Little Daoist showed a comfortable expression.

Sheng Yuanyao: "..."

From outside the door came a frivolous voice: "Pfft, refining mere eighth-grade pills, and only producing five superior-grade pills in one furnace... Yan'er, this is the level of your Danxia Gang's chief alchemist?"

(End of chapter)