The governnt officer, upon seeing so many corpses, quickly reported to Marquis Zheng’s estate. It wasn’t long before Marquis Zheng Rui himself, along with the Chief of Punishnt, the archivist, the forensic doctor, and others, hurried to Rouge Lane.
After the death of the eunuch Sanbao, his adopted son was made a marquis, his fief being Yudou, where his lineage would continue hereditarily uninterrupted.
Zheng Rui was this generation’s marquis, a man of extraordinary composure, with cultivation unfathomable.
However, even Marquis Zheng, experienced and knowledgeable as he was, couldn’t help but gasp in shock upon arriving at the cri scene.
Corpses.
Corpses everywhere.
Two courtyards, door to door. In one courtyard, three female corpses were found, each eting a terribly grueso end. One woman had been killed by having her throat bones and blood vessels, and neck bone shattered; another had a writing brush penetrated through her brain; the third woman’s neck was destroyed, with her internal organs completely ruptured, and her back decayed thoroughly.
But the archivist Zhuge ntioned two other won, one in a well, shattered by an explosion, the other leaving only a clump of blood.
Marquis Zheng and the Chief of Punishnt inspected carefully, finding only the bloodstains in the well; as for the pool of blood on the ground, they couldn’t tell it was human, nor could they understand how archivist Zhuge had seen it.
"The perpetrator used a very strange spell, collecting the deceased into an incredibly narrow space and grinding them up."
Archivist Zhuge pinched a clump of blood, rubbed it vigorously, and after the blood dried, inspected the fragnts of bones within, reaffirming his assertion, "This plasma is indeed that of the deceased."
They continued to the street, where archivist Zhuge inspected the bodies of so elderly won.
These elderly won were all killed while trying to escape; two bodies lay on this street, three on the second street, two on the third street.
Archivist Zhuge said, "There’s another person. This individual likely practiced a Cultivation Technique of the golden body type; broken by the perpetrator, they exploded."
The Chief of Punishnt couldn’t help asking, "How did you figure that out?"
Archivist Zhuge replied, "Sir, feel this door."
The Chief of Punishnt approached the door, touched it, noticing so mist-like bloodstains which were stickier than blood and sowhat putrid.
Archivist Zhuge said, "Sir, taste it, and you’ll discern it’s a mixture of blood plasma and minced flesh."
The Chief of Punishnt was about to taste it when he hastily wiped his hand clean upon hearing those words, exclaiming, "This is a mix of human flesh and blood? How could it be ground into this condition?"
"Sir, a golden body technique, when broken, leads to dispersion of their Qi-Blood,"
explained archivist Zhuge, "The higher the cultivation, the more violent the Qi-Blood reaction when dispersed. This person had very high cultivation, rendering their body impervious to blades and guns. Even if she swallowed a bowl full of bullets, and gunpowder exploded in her stomach, she would remain unscathed. But once her golden body was broken, the imnse power sustaining it exploded, yet had nowhere to vent, causing her body to expand increasingly."
He adjusted the fire gun behind him, crouched down by the corner, and found a still-wet Blood Pearl, twirling it between his fingers, "When she exploded, her flesh was crushed, her skeleton turned to dust. If you were to carefully pinch these blood pearls, you would feel the bone dust. This person must have been the Shopkeeper, Mada, of Rouge Lane."
Marquis Zheng couldn’t help saying, "Archivist Zhuge, your description is so detailed, and you even know who the deceased was. Could it be that you are the killer?"
Archivist Zhuge shook his head, "I’ve been to Rouge Lane for a drink before and t Mada. Suspecting she possessed unique skills, I tested her ttle. Her hand turned golden, hence I deduced she had cultivated a golden body."
The three moved to the opposite mansion.
The Chief of Punishnt surveyed the scene and said, "There are seven bodies here."
"Eleven bodies."
Archivist Zhuge retorted, "There’s one hanging on the wall, two inside the house, and one more on the roof."
The Chief of Punishnt flushed slightly, coughed once, and asked, "How did these people die?"
Archivist Zhuge picked up a hairpin from the ground, lightly touched the hollow copper sphere beneath the hairpin, which chid crisply like a bell, "Sir, this hairpin is the murder weapon."
Marquis Zheng and the Chief of Punishnt scrutinized the hairpin, both frowning, "Not a Magical Treasure?"
They had assud the perpetrator used a Magical Treasure to kill so many but were surprised to find it was rely an ordinary hairpin, not even qualifying as a talisman treasure or talismanic weapon.
Talisman treasures are objects like peach wood, jade talismans, or paper talismans, which can be engraved with one or multiple talismanic symbols. When needed, they can be activated one or two tis before their power is exhausted.
Talismanic weapons are weapons like swords and spears etched with talismanic inscriptions. When Qi-Blood is infused, they can be activated to harm others. As long as the talismanic weapon isn’t destroyed and its inscriptions intact, it can be used repeatedly.
Magical Treasures are rarer, akin to the Sheep Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp, West King Jade Seal, Earth Book, and the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, which can be called Magical Treasures.
The Rouge Lane murderer did not use a Magical Treasure, nor a talisman treasure or talismanic weapon, but simply an ordinary hairpin, which was unexpected.
"Using the most ordinary objects to kill, the murderer is either very confident in their abilities, reckless, or habituated to killing."
Archivist Zhuge assessed the bodies and concluded, "This murderer is confident and reckless, and frequently kills. The wounds on the bodies often indicate a swift, lethal strike. I’ve seen similar wounds before..."
He paused, not continuing.
Noticing familiar wheel tracks, though no black dog hair was found, a sense of familiarity overwheld him.
"Soul summoning!"
Archivist Zhuge instructed the forensic doctor, who quickly fetched a Soul Summoning Talisman to summon the souls of the elderly won.
"Archivist Zhuge, the souls can’t be summoned!" the forensic doctor declared.
Archivist Zhuge exhaled a turbid breath, muttering to himself, "Has he co to Yudou? I resigned from my position as archivist in Water Buffalo County last ti because of him. Having barely secured a decent position in Yudou, has he caught up with again?"
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