The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

Chapter 115 Affectionate Eyes

The coroner frowned, looking at the uninvited guest before him.

He was dressed as a Taoist priest, with a moonlit whisk casually draped over his arm, and there was not a trace of awkwardness about him.

Who are you?

The fox withdrew its gaze, bowed, and took out a certificate of ordination from its sleeve: "I am a Taoist priest from Qingling Temple, and my surname is Qing."

He took the document and examined it closely: "Isn't that Taoist temple far away in Qingling? Besides, I've never heard of a handsome Taoist priest coming from there."

The fox said earnestly, "I am the grandmaster of Abbot Yun, and I recently entered the temple. I was traveling around when I heard about a murder case, so I came to take a look."

Gods and humans are too far apart. If a deity sits in a temple, people will naturally be respectful and reverent. But if a deity were to walk right up to them, people would be at a loss. The identity of a Taoist priest is just right.

The newly initiated master?

If anyone else dared to spout such nonsense, he would have already ordered them to be driven out. But the Taoist priest in front of him spoke so frankly, and the symptoms of the deceased vaguely matched his suspicions.

The coroner pondered for a moment: "The Taoist priest said the soul left the body, but is there any evidence to support that?"

"As an official, you must have heard about the murder of the magistrate of Tao County."

The coroner understood, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "Daoist Master, did you smell anything unusual?"

"It has a muddy, fishy smell."

The coroner's expression changed, and he hesitated before saying, "To be honest, around the Double Ninth Festival every year, several more corpses like this appear in the county. I have examined them many times, but I can't find anything. If what you say is true, it will solve my doubts for many years."

"Didn't you report this to the magistrate?"

"I reported it every year, but nothing ever came of it in the end."

"What about those physical bodies?"

The author was stunned: "Most of them are taken back by their families. If no one claims them, they are buried in mass graves."

"Did you return home after that?"

"Never heard of it."

"Organize those files and hand them over to me later." The fox pushed open the door and walked towards the courtroom.

In the courtroom.

Young Master Shen and the man playing the scholar knelt in the hall, staring intently at the magistrate, while the rest of the opera troupe stood below.

The area outside the ceremonial gate was crowded with onlookers, whispering and pointing.

The magistrate sat on the platform, constantly pressing his brows, remaining silent for a long time.

This young master Shen is the only son of the Shen family. Old Master Shen has many connections with the officials of this region. This gift has already been sent to him. If he is really arrested, it will be troublesome.

But today's incident has escalated so much. Those unruly people even dared to smash the statue of the City God. And today the city is full of all sorts of people. If a judgment is not made properly, and a brute jumps out and punches an official three times, it may be difficult to hold him accountable.

It's so distressing.

The murmurs among the crowd subsided, and the magistrate's heart tightened. He lightly tapped his gavel: "Shen Jiyuan, I ask you, why did you go to find that Yu Niang?"

"Your Excellency, I—"

Just as the magistrate was about to ask some more trivial questions, the county clerk suddenly entered through a side door, carrying a small box in his arms. He stood at an angle where no one could see him and opened the box a crack.

The magistrate's eyes lit up.

The county magistrate went around to the back room, hid the box, and returned to his desk, whispering a few words to the county magistrate.

The magistrate coughed, waved for the magistrate's assistant to leave, and looked at the actor: "I ask you, was there anything inappropriate about Yu Niang's performance today?"

"There is nothing wrong with it."

"Snapped!"

The magistrate slammed his gavel: "Still dare to argue? I have already sent people to investigate. As early as the middle of the opera, Yu Niang's voice was trembling and her face was pale."

"I'll ask you again, does Yu Niang have any pre-existing ailments?"

"She often has stomach aches, but in our line of work, we often eat a little something."

"Then it must be a pre-existing condition!"

The magistrate interrupted, then turned to Young Master Shen: "Shen Jiyuan, I ask you, did you ever touch Yu Niang? Do you have any witnesses?"

Young Master Shen answered truthfully.

"Come up here!" The magistrate summoned the man who had led the way. "Is what Young Master Shen said true?"

The man was so frightened that he kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "It's true, it's true."

Young Master Shen frowned, then suddenly realized something and subconsciously turned around to look.

Miss Hu stood in the crowd, dressed in simple clothes, a slight smile on her lips, looking at herself.

Young Master Shen's face lit up with surprise: "What brings you here?"

Miss Hu smiled and said, "Afu said you went home, but how did you end up back in jail?"

Young Master Shen gave a wry smile: "I didn't expect this either."

His gaze shifted upwards, and his brows furrowed again: "Where did your silver hairpin go? And where are your earrings?"

Miss Hu's eyebrows shot up: "You still have the mind to care about this?"

Young Master Shen's face flushed, and he had a guess in his mind: Why do you have to do this? Wait until I go out, and I'll buy you some new ones. Miss Hu snorted coldly: Let's talk about it when you come out.

Young Master Shen: How long have you been standing here?

Miss Hu: I didn't kneel for as long as you did.

Shen: "You believe I didn't kill anyone?"

Hu: What do you think?

Shen: You————

The fox stood in the corner, watching Young Master Shen. This guy was sometimes happy, sometimes sad, sometimes sorrowful, and sometimes ashamed, looking like a fool.

Looking at Hu Nianshuang again, this fox sometimes raised her eyebrows, sometimes frowned, sometimes smiled, and sometimes gritted her teeth, looking just like Young Master Shen.

The fox carefully sensed it and could not detect any fluctuations in magical power, but they were clearly communicating with each other through their eyes.

What kind of magic is this? Even a fox wants to learn it!

"There are still doubts in this case, but with both witnesses and physical evidence, I, the judge, believe that Shen Jiyuan has no direct connection to Yu Niang's death."

He slammed his gavel, glanced at the crowd, and saw that although there were some complaints, no one stepped forward. He felt a little relieved and then went to observe Shen Jiyuan.

He only saw the back of a head.

Fine, considering your family background and the treasure in your chest, I will not hold it against you.

"From today onwards, you are not allowed to leave the county seat and must await summons at any time. You may leave."

"My lord, how can you let one go?"

"Get out of here. If you make any more noise, don't blame us for being impolite." The yamen runners stepped forward and cleared the crowd out of the county yamen.

The magistrate walked toward the back room with a beaming smile. As soon as he pushed open the door, he saw a Taoist priest sitting in a chair, stroking a silver hairpin in his hand.

"Who are you! Guards, come here—"

The fox tossed the plain silk ribbon and wrapped it around the magistrate's mouth: "I'll ask, you answer."

The magistrate nodded repeatedly, muttering incoherently.

"Who I am is unimportant; what matters is, what's the story behind those who die every year on the Double Ninth Festival?"

Su Yueling loosened slightly, and the magistrate hurriedly said, "I have already investigated, and it was all an accident."

"Hmm?" The fox channeled a wisp of magic into the silver hairpin in its hand, and the hairpin slowly extended, transforming into a small knife with a narrow blade and a slightly curved tip.

The fox held the knife to the magistrate's neck: "Do you know how many lives this knife has taken?"

"Wait, Taoist priest, hero! It's not that I don't want to investigate, it's that I can't! The City God appeared to me in a dream and said that those people's lives were over and there was no need to pursue them!"

"The City God?"

"Taoist priest, you are a monk, you should know the power of the gods, I have no choice." The magistrate saw that the Taoist priest seemed to be deep in thought, put away his knife, and felt a little relieved.

Then he saw the fox reach out and a ghost-headed knife float out of the window: "If you're a remnant of the City God, then you'll have to use this."