Minglong

Chapter 73 The Weary Bird Returns to Its Nest
The group walked through the streets and markets and dismounted outside the Wan'an County Government Office.

Xie Jinhuan saw the familiar buildings and streets, and a little joy surged in his heart. Before he could greet the acquaintances on the street, Meiqiu jumped onto the eaves and looked around inside:

"Gujiguji?!"

County Lieutenant Fiji, who was discussing matters in the courtyard, saw the large, broken bird on the roof and was slightly startled. He then ran out, his mustache tilted upwards:
"Hey~ Jinhuan, I haven't seen you for a few years. You've grown so big? You're much more handsome than your father was back then..."

"Uncle Fei hasn't changed at all, he's still so energetic."

"You're still so sweet. I heard you solved a big case in Danyang? Like father, like son!"

"It's all thanks to Uncle Fei's good teaching. When I was three years old, he performed an autopsy on me, going over the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys one by one. It's hard not to remember..."

……

Linghu Qingmo had never been to Wan'an County Government Office. Seeing that the two of them were very familiar with each other, he asked:

"Who is this?"

Yang Dabiao had been a police chief in Wan'an County for several years, and returning to his old unit felt like returning home:
"Master Feiji, also known as 'Jibei', is my old boss and formerly Master Xie's deputy. He's a master at solving cases. He can solve murders and adultery cases with just one glance and know the exact position..."

"Ah? Master Fei is a Buddhist?"

"No, Jinhuan always got his name wrong when he was little, so he just called him 'Fiji Sad'. Over time, he got this nickname."

Yang Dabiao walked up the stairs with his head held high and chest puffed out, saying:
"Master Jibei, don't you want to see who's coming?"

Fiji, who was holding Xie Jinhuan's shoulders and looking around, heard the voice and his mustache drooped immediately:

"Hey?! Why are you here, you little bastard? I don't have any money, if you want to eat and drink for free, go find someone else..."

"Chi~"

The follower Xiao Wang sneered out loud.

Linghu Qingmo almost couldn't hold it back, but because of her image as a Taoist female hero, she quickly put on a serious face.

Yang Dabiao was embarrassed and turned around to explain:
"See? This is called getting along well."

"is it?"

……

As they were reminiscing about the past, a police officer came running in from behind the yamen:
"Master Fei, Magistrate Wu said to go directly to the morgue."

Xie Jinhuan came to the county government office as if he were returning home. Seeing this, he walked directly to the West Government Office and asked along the way:
"Uncle Fei, what exactly is the situation with the mummy case?"

Fiji held the official sword at his waist with a serious expression:
"Alas, it's the demonic bandits who are killing people to practice their skills. Since the first month of this year, mummified corpses have appeared repeatedly in Wan'an and Changle counties. It seems that the same person is responsible, but the murderer is as slippery as a ghost. Not to mention witnesses, not even a hair has been found..."

Yang Dabiao touched his chin and interrupted:

"Could it be that the monk committed the crime?"

“That cannot be ruled out at this point.”

Fiji raised his hand to signal the outer city:

"Do you remember Captain Li from the Yangwei Escort Agency? He was the one who got beaten for stealing someone's concubine. A serious sixth-rank martial artist, he went to a brothel in the middle of the night and inexplicably ended up dead in an alley without even drawing his knife. Da Biao, you've come to the capital, so you better be careful next time..."

"Hey? What should I pay attention to? I don't go to places like that..."

"Are you still pretending? Who was it that tossed and turned in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep, and sneaked up on me and asked, 'Are there any prostitutes here?'"

"Shhhhh..."

……

While seriously discussing the case, the group arrived at the West Yamen Morgue.

Fiji opened the door and asked the yamen runner to light the lamp. Seventeen corpses neatly laid out on the table appeared before him, lined up in a row and almost covering the entire room.

"In order to facilitate the investigation, the bodies have been sent to us. They are arranged from left to right according to the time of the crime. Take a look."

Xie Jinhuan had seen his father handle many cases, but a major case involving seventeen corpses was rarely seen in the capital.

When the white cloth was lifted, it was seen that the body had been dead for more than eight months, but had not rotted. The skin and flesh were black and tightly attached to the bones, as if all the water in the body had been squeezed out. One could even vaguely see the fear on the deceased's face before death.

Linghu Qingmo lifted up a few other pieces of white cloth and looked at them, pondering for a moment:

"These mummies, buried underground, should be difficult to rot. They are a little different from the three skeletons in Danyang."

Xie Jinhuan also felt that it was not similar, so he took the skull cap brought by Fiji and looked at the "bloodstains" in it with a few others. It can be seen that the traces are not much different from those of the three skeletons.

The bloodstains were so tiny that ordinary people could only make out their general direction. If one wanted to magnify them thousands of times to see the details, only an "Apia brand microscope" could do it.

Xie Jinhuan compared them for a moment and didn't see anything special, so he put his hand on Zhenglun Sword and called on the ghost wife to take a look.

Ye Hongshang had actually been observing secretly, and responded in his ear:

"This is a case within a case. There are two murderers."

Ok?
Xie Jinhuan wanted to listen to the ghost wife's explanation when he heard footsteps outside the house.

Tap tap tap~
Looking up, he saw the county magistrate Wu Yuanhua and others coming to the door, followed by a red-robed Chilin guard.

Xie Jinhuan and Chilinwei had some old grudges, and he frowned secretly when he saw this, but did not show any displeasure. He stepped forward and bowed:

"Wu County Magistrate."

Wu Yuanhua used to be Xie Wen's superior, and Xie Jinhuan, as his subordinate's son, knew him but was not very familiar with him.

But now Xie Jinhuan had achieved great merit by single-handedly slaying the bandits, and was also appreciated and reused by the Dan King. It was only a matter of time before he rose to prominence. Wu Yuanhua dared not neglect him. He quickly stepped forward like an uncle he hadn't seen in years: "Jinhuan, it's been a few years since we last met. You've grown so much. I heard you were injured in Danyang. Are you okay?"

"It's okay, just a minor injury."

After Xie Jinhuan bowed, he looked at the two people behind him:

"I wonder what the names of these two gentlemen are?"

Wu Yuanhua introduced them amiably, "Master Jingkong of the Imperial Observatory and Captain Lu Qian of the Red Scale Guards are the two collaborating on the investigation of the mummy case."

Lu Qian came here not to investigate the case, but because he suspected that "Zhou He's death" was related to Xie Jinhuan, so he took the opportunity to work with him to find out Xie Jinhuan's background.

However, Lu Qian was still quite polite on the surface and raised his hand to return the greeting:
"I've heard that Master Xie is a master of martial arts and a brilliant solver. Seeing him today, he's certainly not an ordinary person. The yamen has been plagued by the mummy case for several days. Does Master Xie have any opinions?"

County Magistrate Wu was badly scolded by his superiors, and now he looked at Xie Jinhuan with expectation.

Xie Jinhuan knew that the ghost wife could find clues from the corpse, but there were too many people present and it was not easy to make trouble. He also didn't want to have too much contact with the Chilin Guards, so he shook his head and smiled:
"The government has been investigating for half a year with no results. How can I tell there's something wrong when I just arrived? I need to investigate for a few days before I can find out."

Linghu Qingmo has always been a workaholic, and now he asked:

"What clues does the government have now?"

Fiji is the county lieutenant in charge of this case and introduced:

"There are no actual clues, but many experts from the Imperial Astronomical Observatory and the Red Kirin Guards have deduced, based on the location of the crime and the circumstances of the deceased, that the killer is approximately fourth-grade in strength, possessing a special magical weapon capable of detecting experts within a radius of a hundred feet, or perhaps has a powerful guardian by his side.

"In addition, the corpse found in Danyang a few days ago died in a manner similar to these deceased people. Currently, it is speculated that the Underworld Cult may be secretly training new members..."

"Oh……"

After chatting casually for a few words, Fiji saw that Xie Jinhuan and the others were all exhausted, and said:
"This murderer isn't very skilled, but he's too sly to be caught for at least ten days or half a month.

"It's too late today, and it must be difficult for you to travel all the way here. Rest up for the night first. Tomorrow morning, we will all meet up to discuss how to investigate this case."

Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan didn't say much. After saying goodbye to a few acquaintances, he took his people and left the county government office.

County Magistrate Wu Yuanhua had originally had high hopes, but upon seeing Xie Jinhuan leave like this, his smile inevitably turned into a look of worry. After watching the group leave, he put his hands behind his back and sighed:

"Danyang's claims of 'solving cases with divine prowess and foresight, even insiders and informants couldn't keep up with Xie Jinhuan's speed in tracking down the murderer' seem to be exaggerated."

Monk Jingkong interrupted, "Investigating a case requires unraveling the mystery, and doing extensive research. Lord Wu can't expect Master Xie to come here today and solve the case tomorrow, right?"

Wu Yuanhua shook his head and smiled. "Yes, I am anxious. It took Tai Shudan seven days to arrest him. The case has dragged on for half a year. How could he possibly catch the murderer right after arriving? Sigh..."

……
-
Soon after, Xianyun Lane.

Xie Jinhuan brought Mo Mo and his group to the depths of the alley. Meiqiu, who had grown up there since childhood, flew into a house in a flash.

The house is hidden deep in the alley, and the walls have long turned yellow. It is slightly larger than the house rented from the landlady, but it has been passed down for several generations, so the decoration is definitely much worse.

Moreover, he had been gone for three years, and the house had lost its popularity. Now the grass in the yard was half a person tall, and the bricks and tiles were damaged.

Meiqiu grew up here and found that his home had become an abandoned house. His mahogany birdhouse was gone. He squatted alone on the wall with a lost look in his eyes.

Even a tired bird knows to return to its nest, and so do humans.

Xie Jinhuan had lived in that house since he opened his eyes for sixteen years. Looking at the house where everything had changed and the people had changed, he couldn't help but miss his former maids, servants, and his father who worked from six to nine every day.

Unfortunately, I don't even know if my father is alive or dead, and I have an aunt who will blow up her grave in just over 20 days. It seems that my peaceful days are gone forever...

Linghu Qingmo followed him into the mansion and found it completely desolate, with not even a place to stay. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly - how could such a good person like Xie Jinhuan suffer such injustice...

Noticing the sadness in Xie Jinhuan's brow, Linghu Qingmo wanted to say something to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say.

Although I often hear those crazy ladies say that the best way to comfort a man is to put your hair up.

But she didn't understand the meaning!

After a little consideration, Linghu Qingmo said softly:

"Don't overthink it. You have to look forward. I'll help you clean up the house in the next few days. When you get married and start a family, it will naturally prosper..."

Seeing Mo Mo's earnest attempt to comfort him, Xie Jinhuan's depression was relieved a lot:
"You can't clean it up by yourself. Wait until I finish my work and have some free time, then we can clean it up slowly together. Then you can live in the west wing, right next to me, so it will be convenient for us to come and go."

Linghu Qingmo wanted to nod, but then he felt something was wrong:

"Why should I live in your house?"

We've already kissed each other, do you still want to run away?

Xie Jinhuan laughed, but he didn't say anything out of fear that Mo Mo would get angry. He just said casually:
"Given our relationship, shouldn't you stay at home for a few days when you come to the capital?"

Linghu Qingmo thought so too, but by then Doctor Lin should have come in. If she lived right next to him, wouldn't Doctor Lin be standing at the door holding a baby and glaring at her to death with his little eyes?

Speaking of secretly following Xie Jinhuan to the capital, Doctor Lin wouldn't be jealous if he knew...

……

Xie Jinhuan did not stay long in this old place that brought back countless memories. After looking around, he waved and said:

"Coal Ball, let's go."

"Gooji!"

Meiqiu was very unhappy, squatting on Xie Jinhuan's shoulder and muttering, probably complaining about the redwood birdhouse that our father had built for it being stolen...

(End of this chapter)