Minglong

Chapter 21: Don't let my friends die

Two quarters of an hour later.

stomping on...

A large group of detectives came from all over and blocked off the entire block. Soldiers wearing black armor patrolled the houses in groups of two, looking for any clues about the monster.

In Sanhe Building, whether gamblers or gambling shop assistants, they all squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands. The constables held a booklet in their hands and interrogated and searched them one by one:
"Your boss is eating people behind the scenes, how could you not know?"

"Sir, I really don't know. The boss came to inspect the place this morning, chatting and laughing, and I didn't feel anything was wrong..."

"When was the last time you saw someone?"

"Morning……"

"The specific time!"

"Around three quarters past noon..."

……

The courtyard at the back was already full of people.

Yang Dabiao and Liu Qingzhi led people to dig three feet deep in the yard, searching for various banned drugs and controlled medicinal materials.

Two pieces of white cloth were covering the eaves, which contained the bodies of the legal advisor and the servant. The county lieutenant Yang Ting and the coroner from the yamen squatted in front of the charred bodies and examined them carefully.

Because Xie Jinhuan was so brutal, the coroner had some complaints and whispered quietly:

"Master Xie is truly brave, but he's too heavy-handed. Yesterday, the demon monk needed over 300 stitches, but he still couldn't be put back into human form. Now, two more people are coming to perform laparotomies and thoracotomies. I'm afraid we'll be busy for half the night again..."

When County Lieutenant Yang Ting first arrived at the scene, he saw that the houses were destroyed and thought that the people lying on the ground were victims killed by monsters.

He discovered that the monster was beaten like this, but Xie Jinhuan was unharmed, with only some blood stains on his sleeves. He couldn't help but be surprised at Xie Jinhuan's terrifying skills.

However, there have been too many things going on recently. Yang Ting hasn't slept well for half a month. He has no time to brag at this moment. He just carefully examines the charred corpse:

"There's a birthmark on his leg. The deceased must be Li Shizhong himself. But he was fine this morning. How did he suddenly become like this?"

"It looks like he took a 'Demon Transformation Pill'. The Demon Transformation Pill can help demon practitioners strengthen their physical strength and quench their 'thirst for blood'. The lower the quality of the pill, the more obvious the limb changes. Li Shizhong must have made up the pills himself and taken too much, which is why he became like this..."

……

Xie Jinhuan stood nearby and also helped examine the body.

According to his understanding, monsters refer to living creatures that have become spirits of birds, beasts, plants and trees. When they reach a super level, they can even "transform" and become centaurs or octopus girls. However, this kind of serious monster is basically not seen in Daqian, where there are many religions and hundreds of schools.

The "Demon Dao" is one of the spiritual schools, and its heritage is as ancient as the Taoism, Buddhism, and witchcraft schools. The "Mingshen Sect, Yama Sect, Huaxian Sect" and other sects that have brought disaster to the world in history all belong to this sect.

According to the records in the book, the demon path is divided into two factions: ghost cultivation and body cultivation. Although their emphases are different, they both adhere to the principle of 'survival of the fittest'. Their cultivation relies entirely on blood sacrifices, collecting tonics, extracting souls and spirits, and other unconventional methods. In short, they plunder the people to fatten themselves.

People like Li Shizhong who made their own demon-transforming pills to strengthen their physique belong to the most common physical cultivation school of the demon path. The government usually calls them demon bandits. Most of the demon-induced incidents in Daqian are caused by people like this.

After listening for a while, Xie Jinhuan suddenly noticed Miss Momo standing beside him. She pressed her chest and frowned, and asked:

"You are hurt?"

Linghu Qingmo acted quite aloof, but he actually wasn't feeling well.

Just now, she was attacked by a monster, but she was helped by Xie Jinhuan and was not hurt by the monster.

But Xie Jinhuan's way of helping was to leap from the door with all his strength and crash directly into him.

Linghu Qingmo had already been injured by Xie Jinhuan's mace and was currently on leave. The feeling he had just felt was no less than being hit by a dump truck, and after landing he got angry and used thunder magic.

The danger was over at this time, she only felt a stabbing pain in her chest and didn't dare to breathe too hard.

However, if Xie Jinhuan hadn't pushed her away, the demon might have scratched her. Naturally, she had no intention of complaining in her heart, but just said:
"I was accidentally injured the day before yesterday and I'm still not well. Don't worry, just rest for a while."

In public, Xie Jinhuan couldn't help Miss Momo rub the sore spot, and warned:

"Slaying demons and monsters isn't just playing house. Licking blood on the edge of a knife is common. As a girl, you should wear armor from now on. It really provides extraordinary protection."

You think I don't want to wear it?
Didn’t you break it and take it for repair?

Linghu Qingmo's lips moved. The defeated general didn't feel comfortable complaining about Xie Jinhuan, so he just asked curiously:
"Your martial arts skills are a bit too overbearing, and I have never heard of this move before."

Xie Jinhuan casually explained, "There's no set pattern for moves. The only powerful skill is the one that suits you. It doesn't necessarily have to be famous."

"Among the Eight Silver Dragon Styles, besides 'Tilong Wujiu', what other moves are there?"

"The moves progress from simple to complex. The first four moves are just bare-handed combat, supplemented by horizontal sweeps, vertical chops, and thrusts. Use as much force as you can muster. The essence lies in the last four moves: 'Dragon Wandering Around the Mountain, Dragon Rocking Across the Hill, Dragon on Guard Against All Odds, and Throwing the Dragon's Mother!'"

?

Linghu Qingmo thought the first three were quite serious, but the last one had a strange accent and didn't seem to be a good word:

"Ditch the Dragon Mother? What do you mean?"

"A trump card in desperate situations! If you can't kill it, you have to run away, so it's called Diulongmu."

"Since we're escaping, then according to your custom, we should call it 'Mud Dragon Entering the Sea'..."

"That's quite clever, but for this last move, you have to shout out the name to make it more powerful. Even if you can't defeat him, you can't lose in momentum..."

"Is there any other way to say this?"

……

The two chatted for a while, and Yang Dabiao in the yard suddenly shouted:
"Dad, come and take a look."

"Who is your father? When you are on business outside, you should address him by his official title!"

"Dad, come quickly..."

Xie Jinhuan came to the study upon hearing the sound.

The debris in the study had been cleared away, and the box containing the Ascension Powder had been sealed, but there were still a lot of bloodstains on the ground.

Yang Dabiao stood by the wall and lifted up the landscape painting on the wall. A secret compartment was visible behind the scroll, containing some silver bills, gold items, and several account books.

Linghu Qingmo came forward and took a closer look. He saw that the account book contained the income and expenditure of the gambling house, as well as the profits from the sale of various controlled drugs.

Among them were private accounts for wages paid to Taoist priest Chen Yuan and other bandits. The latest payment was three hundred taels, but it was not specified to whom it was given.

When Xie Jinhuan saw the last payment, he naturally thought of the windfall he had just made:
"These three hundred taels of silver should be used to hire Fu Dongping."

Linghu Qingmo had been tracking this gang of demonic bandits for half a month without finding any valuable clues. Suddenly, he found such irrefutable evidence, and he was inevitably surprised and suspicious:

"According to the account books, it's Li Shizhong who's secretly colluding with the demon bandits to collect the dragon beard grass. The people and the herbs match... Is this how the case is solved?"

Yang Dabiao touched his head and felt that happiness came too suddenly:
"With such strong evidence, it can't be fake. Once this case is solved, we can focus on tracking down the great demon in Zihui Mountain and the giant footprints we found last night..."

What? !

Xie Jinhuan was originally an outsider, and he felt like he was struck by lightning when he heard the voice!
He realized that if the cannon fodder that attracted the firepower was gone, Daqian Iron Fist would have to concentrate all his energy on beating him. Xie Jinhuan quickly raised his hand to interrupt:

"Everyone, please wait!"

Everyone who was surprised fell silent.

Because Xie Jinhuan's performance over the past two days was too exaggerated, no one underestimated him. Yang Dabiao asked solemnly, "Jinhuan, do you have an explanation?"

Xie Jinhuan was thinking, but there was obviously another explanation:
"There must be something fishy going on when things are out of the ordinary. Whether it's the gang of bandits from yesterday, or Fu Dongping, the mastermind here, they've all been silenced and there's no evidence..."

"Yes, it was all your doing."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan was stunned.

Yang Ting took his pipe and hit his son on the head;

"Don't make jokes, just listen to what Jinhuan is saying."

Xie Jinhuan wanted to hit Yang Dabiao, but he couldn't do that now, so he continued:
"We just found out that Li Shizhong went crazy and started eating people. It's too coincidental. This is the first suspicious point.

"Secondly, if Li Shizhong knew what I was doing in Cangfang, he wouldn't have hired a second-rate guy like Fu Dongping. If he didn't know my specific situation, it would be difficult for him to find out my whereabouts. This is the second suspicious point.

"Finally, even if Li Shizhong underestimated my strength and hired Fu Dongping, he shouldn't have let the killer carry such crucial evidence as the medicine bottle, leading us directly to our lair. This is the third suspicious point.

"Although there is sufficient evidence at the scene, based on these three points, I still suspect that this case may be a frame-up."

Yang Ting has been solving cases all his life, and he also felt that the solution to this case was a bit bizarre. He said, holding his pipe:
"The last two points can be understood as Li Shizhong's negligence, but he suddenly took the wrong medicine and went mad, and the accounting advisor also died. It is indeed very strange.

"The dragon beard grass purchased in the account matches the account book from Dongcang Street yesterday. We also didn't find any concrete evidence of framing the person at the scene. It's not easy to verify this matter."

Yang Dabiao touched his chin and pondered:

"The Li family has let their subordinates manage the business. They must have kept accounts. As long as the income and expenditure in the Li family's accounts are different from those of Sanhe Building, it can prove that the account books here have been forged by the demon bandits..."

Linghu Qingmo shook his head. "If the accounts match, it means the Li family was behind Li Shizhong hiring the bandits to kill people. Even if they don't match, the Li family is indeed smuggling the Ascension Powder.

"Now that Li Shizhong is dead and there's no evidence to prove his guilt, the Li family can simply insist they knew nothing about the incident and have the dead man take all the blame. Why would they hand over evidence and confess? We can't just forcibly search the Li family's account books."

The room fell silent.

Everyone present was a detective, so how could they not understand this?

Behind the Li family is Huangmenlang Li Gongpu, a favorite of the emperor, who privately sold the Ascension Powder for huge profits. The case is not big, but not small either. Even if the Li family is not severely punished afterwards, it will be used as a handle by political enemies to make a big fuss.

Now that Li Shizhong is dead and there is no evidence to prove his guilt, the Li family has the opportunity to shirk responsibility. With a powerful backer behind them, it is impossible for them to pay the full bill for the Ascension Powder.

But if they don't check with the Li family, they won't be able to confirm whether the account books of Sanhe Building have been forged by the evil bandits.

If we only judge based on the current evidence, the recent rebellion by bandits, hiring killers, etc. were all done by Li Shizhong alone, wouldn't this case be covered up?

Yang Dabiao rubbed his head, looking troubled:

"I'm afraid this case is going to be difficult to investigate. The Li family's backers are directly under the radar, and they're refusing to admit anything. It seems there's nothing we can do. The great demon from Zihui Mountain is imminent, so should we first..."

?

Seeing that Yang Dabiao wanted to put the case aside and punish him first, Xie Jinhuan would definitely not agree. He took a step forward and said in a serious tone:

"Brother Yang, what are you talking about?

"This case involves hiring bandits to take human lives. Are we not going to investigate just because the Li family has such a strong background? What about the innocent people who died in vain?
"Also, if there's another person behind the scenes, and they're framing the Li family to cover up their actions and divert attention, then maybe the 'evil aura rising from Zihui Mountain' was caused by this group of people!
"In my opinion, this case needs to be handled with two hands. We must thoroughly investigate the Li family, handle it in a big and special way, and make it an example to other tycoons who illegally sell the Ascension Powder.

"We have to dig deep underground to search for any possible evil bandits. We have to act quickly. Even a day's delay could bring disaster to countless people..."

"Hey!"

Yang Dabiao was spurred on by the righteous voice, and felt a little embarrassed. He quickly patted Xie Jinhuan on the shoulder:

"Investigate, how could we not investigate! If we don't investigate a case, wouldn't we be useless? It's just the Li family, come on, I'll lead the team to search their house!"

Liu Qingzhi was more cautious and turned around and said, "Master Linghu, the Li family's background is too strong. Why don't we report it to the palace and let the prince come..."

Yang Ting and Linghu Qingmo remained silent.

What Xie Jinhuan said was indeed correct, and the government should theoretically do so, but the reality is obviously not so ideal.

On the one hand, we have to investigate the Li family, who has a powerful background, and make them an example; on the other hand, we have to dig deep into the ground to find the evil bandits, and we have to do it as quickly as possible.

That would probably involve half of Danyang's people, and even the King of Dan would have to get involved personally.

Now, in order to find the source of the evil spirit in Zihui Mountain, two hundred and eighty of the three hundred soldiers have gone out. Counties, townships, villages, and pavilions, as long as they are paid, are all busy. Dan Wang has been so busy with the evil spirit in Zihui Mountain that he hasn't slept for several days.

If we launch the 'Danyang City Third Quarter Special Operation to Crack Down on Drugs and Crime' again, King Dan will probably have a heart attack.

However, the super-class monster is not under the jurisdiction of a small county lieutenant, but this case is within the jurisdiction of Yang Ting.

For this reason, Yang Ting still sucked on his pipe and looked at Linghu Qingmo:
"This case is full of suspicions and involves too many people. Lord Linghu should report it to the state government and see if they can send more personnel. I will lead the team to the Li family to arrest the person."

The King of Dan also serves as the governor of Danzhou, and reporting to the provincial government is to ask the prince for people.

Linghu Qingmo was only concerned with punishing the wicked and eliminating evil. No matter how much pressure the prince was under, it had nothing to do with her. She nodded in agreement.

"I will personally report this to the prince. Lord Yang cannot focus solely on the Li family. He must continue to track down the demon bandits. As long as we can confirm that there is a mastermind behind this, at least we can prove that the Li family is innocent."

Xie Jinhuan frowned and said earnestly:
"How can you say 'innocent'? Ascension Powder specifically harms the poor, causing countless people to become impoverished and sick, and even having to sell their children. Emperor Taizu established three laws upon the founding of the country, explicitly prohibiting incense powder and hallucinogens. The Li family, favored by the emperor, has never benefited the village, and yet..."

"alright!"

Linghu Qingmo thought she was quite upright and honest, but she hadn't expected Xie Jinhuan to be even more angry than her. Fearing that Xie Jinhuan might say something fatal, she hurriedly pushed him out by the shoulder.
"Go back and take care of Dr. Lin first, we'll talk later!"

"Miss Linghu, I'm just telling the truth..."

"I know, I know. We will definitely investigate the Li family strictly and show no mercy!"

……

After being reprimanded by Xie Jinhuan, Yang Dabiao and other old officials in the yamen had no choice but to take immediate action and send more people to continue the investigation.

Although Xie Jinhuan was asked to leave, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and silently wished that something must have happened to the Li family and there must be someone behind the scenes.

It would be best if something happened on both sides, and the bigger the better.

For example, Li Gongpu was actually plotting a rebellion, and the evil bandits actually wanted to assassinate the King of Dan, no, assassinate the Emperor!

Only in this way can Danyang City be broken from top to bottom and the court's attention be diverted from the evil spirit of Zihui Mountain.

He could also stay a few more days and find a way to deal with the aunt at home.

However, the ability of these people in the yamen is really worrying.

If he doesn't find out what happened to the Li family, something bad will happen to him.

If the mastermind behind the evil bandits cannot be found, the government will have to look for him.

This is a big issue where everyone prospers and suffers together!
For this matter, he must find an opportunity to help...

Could this be the saying "I would rather die than let my fellow Taoist die"?

It seems that I still have some talent for cultivating immortality...

……

(End of this chapter)