Shen Yuan Ring

Liu Rushuang replied, "He is currently in the alchemy room. He has been there for two days, and we don't know when he will come out. Should I detain him?"

Ji Dao paused for a moment and said, "No need. Detaining him would only make things difficult for you, since we haven't yet confirmed that this alchemist is the one I'm looking for."

"By the way, Steward Liu, did he purchase the spiritual herbs he used for alchemy from the Pill Hall?"

"If he weren't so special, the receptionist probably wouldn't have remembered him so well. He came twice, and each time he only rented the alchemy room; he never bought any spiritual herbs from the alchemy hall."

“I’ve never bought any spiritual herbs here before, and I don’t buy from those that are cheap. It seems he’s the kind of person I’m looking for. Senior brother, could you please ask Deacon Liu to arrange for some people to keep an eye on him? I suspect he might be the evil cultivator we were talking about!”

Upon hearing Liu Rushuang's answer, Ji Dao felt even more suspicious of her, as if she didn't want the Pill Hall to know what she was refining.

Sun Shang asked, "Are you sure we only need to keep an eye on him?"

Ji Dao nodded: "It's too early to draw conclusions. I need to go to his alchemy room after he finishes refining pills to see if there are any clues left behind. Also, I need to confirm something, so I need to return to Shijiazhuang immediately to meet up with my companions."

As Ji Daoyi spoke, he stood up and bid farewell to the two men. He then rode his horse at full speed to Shijiazhuang overnight.

early morning,

He found Wang Yueyue and went straight to the door, asking, "Sister Yueyue, how's your investigation going?"

Wang Yueyue teased, "Why are you in such a hurry? That's not like you!"

Ji Daoyi said speechlessly, "I'm just a decisive person, and I got some useful information at the Pill Hall yesterday, which I need to integrate with the information here."

"No rush, I haven't had breakfast yet. Let's talk while we eat. It won't make a difference if we take a little more time!"

They then found a roadside vendor nearby and ordered two breakfasts.

While waiting, Wang Yueyue didn't waste any time and directly recounted the results of her visits and investigations to various shops in the vicinity.

Ji Daoyi exclaimed with delight, "Just as I thought! Buying spiritual herbs separately from various shops and then renting an alchemy room at the Pill Hall to refine pills—that all makes sense now!"

"I don't see anything wrong with the elixirs he bought!"

Ji Daoyi pointed to the list of spiritual herbs written by Wang Yueyue and said, "If you look at the spiritual herbs sold by each shop individually, they indeed cannot be used to refine any pills. But if you put all the information about the spiritual herbs together, you will find that these spiritual herbs can not only be used to refine Body Tempering Pills, but also Mind-Bending Powder. The other spiritual herbs are probably used to refine Essence Blood Pills!"

"I see. If we only investigated one shop, we wouldn't know the purpose of the spiritual herbs he bought. Dao Yi, if it weren't for you, the alchemist, even if I had this information, I wouldn't know what he intended to do with these spiritual herbs."

"Sister Yueyue, you can find any alchemist, they can figure it out too!"

Soon their breakfast was served, and just as they were enjoying it, two more people arrived to eat.

"I heard that Shijiazhuang is haunted. Everyone in the village died tragically, and the village head was even drained of his life force by the ghost, turning into a dried-up corpse. The Ji family has been under lockdown for so many days but hasn't found a single clue."

"There are no ghosts or monsters! I think they must have offended someone, otherwise why would Shijiazhuang be wiped out? My great-uncle's granddaughter said that she saw a person dressed in a black robe and wearing a black veiled hat go to Shijiazhuang twice, and not long after, something bad happened."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember. I did see a person dressed in a black robe and wearing a black veiled hat coming out of Shijiazhuang when I was having lunch here that day."

"I heard the Ji family is offering a reward. Aren't you going to provide this information?"

"What kind of news is this? I didn't even see his face. Am I supposed to go and say I saw someone dressed in all black robes and wearing a veiled hat coming out of Shijiazhuang? I wouldn't get the reward and would just cause a lot of trouble. It's better to avoid trouble! Let's not talk about this, let's drink!"

Ji Daoyi and Wang Yueyue looked into each other's eyes and smiled knowingly.

"Sister Yueyue, it seems that even God is on our side! If you hadn't dragged me out to dinner, I wouldn't have heard such important news."

It can now be basically confirmed that the person wearing the black veil is the murderer who destroyed Shijiazhuang!

Wang Yueyue asked, "By the way, what information did you get that made you so anxious this morning?"

Ji Daoyi recounted the results of Liu Rushuang's investigation, as well as his request for Liu Rushuang to help find someone to keep watch on him.

"Dao Yi, we can confirm that the black-robed man who appeared here is the murderer, but we cannot yet confirm that the alchemist from the Pill Hall is the black-robed man we are looking for!"

“Indeed, Sister Yueyue. Then let’s split up. You continue investigating the movements of the man in the black robe and veil, while I go to the Pill Hall to see if that alchemist is the person we’re looking for!”

"It seems this is the only way!"

After finishing breakfast, the two went their separate ways again!

After arriving at the Pill Hall, Ji Daoyi successfully found Liu Rushuang: "Steward Liu, has that alchemist left?"

"He left this morning, but my men have been following him."

"Perfect timing, we can go and take a look at the alchemy room."

"I'll take you there right away!"

Before long, Liu Rushuang brought Ji Daoyi to the alchemy room.

Ji Daoyi asked, "Has the alchemy room not been cleaned yet?"

"No, I specifically told someone not to clean it up!"

Ji Daoyi sniffed inside the alchemy furnace. The scent of essence blood inside was not strong, and was rather faint.

An ordinary alchemist would never notice it. It was obvious that the alchemist had cleaned the alchemy furnace and then refined a body-strengthening pill and a mind-controlling powder to cover up the smell of essence and blood.

Ji Daoyi narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I've found you!"

"Deacon Liu, I've confirmed it. He is indeed that evil cultivator!"

"Huh? We checked initially and didn't find anything wrong. Besides, this alchemy furnace only produced Body Tempering Pills and Bewitching Powder. That doesn't confirm he's an evil cultivator!" Liu Rushuang asked doubtfully.

Although Ji Daoyi was the minister's senior brother, she couldn't possibly believe a single word and join him in killing an alchemist.

Ji Daoyi explained, "I also detected the scent of essence blood in this alchemy furnace. Although it was very faint, I'm certain that the scent is not from the essence blood of a demonic beast!"

"You mean he also used his own blood essence to refine pills, and then refined Body Tempering Pills and Bewitching Powder to mask the smell of his blood essence?"

"Yes! This time, I went back and exchanged investigation information with my companions, identified the murderer who destroyed the manor, and also discovered that he bought spiritual herbs separately from different shops, which matches the fact that this person did not buy spiritual herbs in the Pill Hall."

Liu Rushuang suddenly understood after listening to Ji Daoyi's analysis.

Not long after, the people she sent out to keep watch returned!