Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 133 - 129: The Second Murder Case (Ask for subscriptions and monthly tickets) _1

Chapter 133: Chapter 129: The Second Murder Case (Ask for subscriptions and monthly tickets) _1

Xue Yunrou’s stare made Li Xuan feel innocent and a chill ran down his spine.

Fortunately, after Princess Changle finished speaking, she didn’t stay in the main room for much longer and left with Xue Yunrou.

Shortly after, a middle-aged man with a toolbox briskly walked in and saluted everyone, "I apologize for my tardiness. My humble identity is Fumo Youjiao Zhang Xu. I pay my respects to His Lordship and the Xiaowei here."

He gave a deep bow to the Duke of Zhendong, "My Lord, if today my actions seem disrespectful towards the corpse of your mother, please forgive me. My aim is merely to bring the true culprit behind the murder to justice."

The Duke of Zhendong’s expression remained chilly, "Thank you for your efforts, Zhang Youjiao. Rest assured, I am not unreasonable. I only request that you examine carefully so as not to let the murderer slip through the law."

Sima Tianyuan had been waiting impatiently, "Enough talk, let’s get started. If we delay any longer, the Lingwu from our Huoque Department will arrive."

"Understood!" Zhang Xu nodded, yet he continued calmly to ask, "My Lord, may I conduct a soul summoning?"

The Duke of Zhendong hesitated, furrowing his brows, "Start your initial investigation. If you can’t discern anything, then we’ll discuss it."

Zhang Xu had moved to the side of the body and methodically opened his toolbox.

The first technique he performed was the ’Soul Detection Spell’. In their normal routines, the Liudao Division used the urine of an Earth Dragon as the primary material - it was cost-effective and efficient. But since the autopsy’s subject was a second-rank official decreed by fate, he had to use a more refined material. Zhang Xu sprinkled a mint-like liquid all over the old lady’s body.

As Zhang Xu held a spell talisman and recited the spirit chant, everyone saw a layer of black air appear around the corpse.

The Duke of Zhendong’s fist clenched immediately as he exuded a fierce aura and explosive Gang Qi. Thankfully, Lei Yun reacted promptly and held him at his back; otherwise, the abundant Zhenyuan overflowing from the Duke’s body may have caused extensive damage to the crime scene.

"Indeed, this is a murder by spell! Judging by the remaining spiritual power concentration, the spellcaster must be at least at the sixth house level."

Zhang Xu’s gaze fixed, "Somebody controlled the old lady remotely to kill herself, but I need to conduct a detailed examination to discern the exact spell."

He began by parting the old lady’s hair and examining meticulously, "There’s no Zhenhun Nail or anything of the sort in her head, no external wounds, it doesn’t look like a spirit control object."

Next, Zhang Xu opened the deceased’s eyelids and carefully inspected the depths of her pupils.

This era didn’t have tools like flashlights, but Zhang Xu took a mirror from his toolbox, used it to reflect light into the eye, and a very bright intense light manifested. The effect was even better than a flashlight.

"There are no black traces in the depths of the eyes, and her pupils are appropriately dilated. This couldn’t have been caused by pupil technique."

He then took the oral, nasal, and finger details: "There’s no abnormal smell in the oral and nasal cavities, and her fingernails aren’t darkened. It’s extremely unlikely she was poisoned."

Zhang Xu used a needle to extract a droplet of blood from the corpse’s fingertip. Then he held a seal with one hand, chanted a spirit chant, causing the blood to emit red light.

"The luster is pure bright red, indicating that she wasn’t poisoned, at least not by any common toxins."

Li Xuan watched the proceedings and thought that Zhang Xu’s skills in detecting spell methods were far more professional than his own.

Falling short on time, his understanding of the miraculous spells of this time period was superficial.

As for the handwritten notes that his teacher Liu Dachu had lent him, he hadn’t even finished reading them.

While Zhang Xu was conducting the autopsy, Lei Yun pulled out a black object from his sleeve and started crunching on it, "Let’s run a check first. See how many spell cultivators above the sixth house level are here in the mansion. We can’t just suspect the Princess and Yunrou because they’re close. High grade spell cultivators might not necessarily have to be within thirty steps to cast their spells."

The Duke of Zhendong was very dissatisfied with Lei Yun’s demeanor. His mother was lying dead here, and yet this Xiaowei from the Liudao Division dared to eat here. But when he saw the food in Lei Yun’s hand, he was dumbfounded.

Jiang Hanyun also looked at her colleague with disbelief, "Haven’t you finished eating that stone lion yet, Lei Yun?"

"How could I finish such a large and heavy lion that quickly? It weighs over 20,000 catties! Shuangyun cut this stone lion into pieces of 100 catties. I would have to eat one piece every day for 220 days. I don’t know who designed that gate initially, placing such a massive lion there just for show!"

With a sigh, Lei Yun took out a piece of stone from his sleeve, "Want to try it? Shuangyun said it would change the taste, so she fried it. She even applied her special sauce. It’s quite delicious and makes a good snack."

Jiang Hanyun rolled her eyes, "I’m not worthy of such a delicacy, so you might as well keep it for yourself."

"Spell cultivators of the seventh house level could indeed expand the crime scene to one hundred feet, or even two hundred feet away. But it requires either having close contact with the old lady, or simultaneously obtaining her birth name and body fluid. Only then can it be done."

Sima Tianyuan pondered, "We can begin the elimination process among the guests. The sooner the better."

The guests of the mansion today were either high-ranking officials or their family, so he didn’t expect the lockdown to last very long.

But Li Xuan had been watching with full concentration, especially when Zhang Xu rolled up the old lady’s right sleeve and started inspecting her arm. His gaze narrowed slightly.

Li Xuan found that the color at the elbow joint of the old lady was somewhat abnormal, and felt something was off when Zhang Xu moved her arm joint.

Zhang Xu clearly noticed it too. He glanced at the somewhat displaced tea table to the side, "There’s a slight bruise at the right elbow joint, suspected to be caused by a collision with the tea table."

Li Xuan frowned, feeling that it was not that simple. It was true that the old lady’s arm had hit the tea table, but from what he could discern, it was not just a result of a collision.

This was due to the increased visual acuity he acquired from his martial arts training. In his past life, he would not have been able to see it.

Li Xuan wanted to offer a reminder, yet hesitated.

He had heard of this Zhang Xu, the "spirit medical examiner". It was said that this man was very dominant, stubborn, narrow-minded, and had a bad reputation among colleagues.

If he pointed out Zhang Xu’s negligence in front of everyone, the latter would likely take it the wrong way.

After contemplating, Li Xuan decided to remind him privately. The corpse was here anyhow, it wouldn’t go anywhere.

Next, he saw Zhang Xu untie part of the old lady’s upper garment, revealing a patch of dusky redness with scale-like patterns on her lower neck area.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but feel a tightness in his heart, recalling some text he had read in Liu Dachu’s notebook not long ago.

It was not an autopsy record, but a few injury examination records related to the case of Demoness Zidie’s theft.

All these people were enveloped in an odd purple flame at the time of the incident and then all suffered hallucinations, acting involuntary according to Demoness Zidie’s will.

Afterwards, dusky red patches and scale-like patterns could be found on their chests and slight burns on the lower edge of their chest, as well as on some parts of their thighs.

Furthermore, the clothes at these locations would become yellowed or even scorched due to high temperature.

As Li Xuan was reviewing those records in his mind, a panic-stricken, heart-rending cry came from outside the courtyard, "Your Lordship, there’s been a tragedy at Guiyan House! Lady Cui has slit her own throat! She’s committed suicide!"

Everyone present became tense upon hearing this news. After exchanging looks, they all left the main room of the left side of the courtyard.

Then in front of the courtyard gate, a blood-stained maid was crying outside the sword wound left by Sima Tianyuan, "Your Lordship! Lady Cui, for some reason, suddenly became desperate and slit her own throat. By the time we found her, she was already lifeless!"

"Also slit her throat?" Sima Tianyuan was taken aback, turning to look at the Marquis of the East, "Marquis, may I ask which Lady Cui it is?"

The Cui family of Boling has thousands of descendants spread over many generations. In Jinling City alone, there were at least twenty women who are qualified to be addressed as Lady Cui.

"The mother of Yushi Cui Chengyou."

The Marquis of the East appeared startled, with a hint of anger in his eyes, "She is my mother’s cousin, who had rushed to Jinling due to the sudden death of her grandson, Cui Hongshu. As Yushi Cui does not own property in Jinling, she was staying at my place. She claimed to be in mourning and had been staying separately in Guiyan House for my mother’s birthday. Who could it be that dares to act so recklessly in my house?"

Sima Tianyuan frowned, "Lei Yun, you stay here. Jiang Xiaowei and I will go and have a look."

Although he too was only a Xiaowei, he was the chief commander of the Huoque Department. The Huoque Department was first among the twenty-four departments of Zhuque Hall, with a status superior to all other departments.

So Lei Yun did not quarrel, "You can rest assured, big brother Sima."

At this point Sima Tianyuan beckoned to Li Xuan, when Li Xuan caught on and quickly caught up, he heard the voice of Zhang Xu coming from the room, "Slight burns on the right side of the lower edge of the chest, some scorched marks on the underwear."

Li Xuan frowned, then quickly exited the courtyard.

Because at this time, Sima Tianyuan and Jiang Hanyun had already disappeared from sight.

By the time he had hurried over to Guiyan House not far away, he saw that it too was sealed off by Sima Tianyuan’s sword mark.

However, at this moment, some personnel from the Liudao Division had already arrived to help maintain order and drive away bystanders. Peng Fulai and Zhang Yue, among others, were there.

Li Xuan walked unhindered into this building, entering the third floor where the incident had occurred.

Then, he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. Aside from differences in furniture arrangement, and the location of the deceased, the situation was the same as that of the Marquis’s old lady.

The deceased also had a pained expression on her face with a sharp short knife in her right hand. There was a large puddle of blood on the floor.

Especially the shocking wound on the neck, which sharply curved downward after slicing through the blood vessels and trachea, leaving a cut on the chest area.