Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 303 - 291: Seven Floating Corpses on the Ba River

Chapter 303: Chapter 291: Seven Floating Corpses on the Ba River

Wang Qi, leading Zhang San and the other three, entered a guest hall within the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture’s Government Office.

At this time, inside the guest hall, four Martial Artists from the Town Demon Office were nervously watching a maid who was in charge of taking care of them.

Zhang San saw this scene and felt slightly annoyed.

Why were they being looked after by a maid, while he was greeted by a man like Wang Qi?

"Since all the esteemed members from the Town Martial Office and Town Demon Office have gathered, I will explain what the Floating Corpse Case is about," said Wang Qi.

Wang Qi beckoned Zhang San and the others to sit down, then he moved to the center.

"Let me introduce myself first, my name is Wang Qi, and this is my younger brother, Wang Gang."

The maid who had been looking after the four from the Town Demon Office earlier, bowed with clasped fists toward Zhang San and his group.

"I am Wang Gang. I was on an assignment, disguised as a woman to gather information. I came back in a hurry and didn’t have time to change my clothes... You don’t mind, do you?"

Zhang San looked at the stubble on Wang Gang’s face, then at the expressions of the four Martial Artists from the Town Demon Office, especially Wang Gang’s rough yet unexpectedly feminine voice. For some reason, his mood instantly improved.

After everyone had taken their seats, Wang Qi began to formally explain the current situation.

"This time, I am mainly assisting the honored members of both offices to investigate the Floating Corpse Case. By the way, would you all like to introduce yourselves first? It would be good to know each other when we share important clues later..."

Before Wang Qi could finish his sentence, a woman with an exceptionally voluptuous figure from the Town Demon Office snorted coldly, glaring at Zhang San’s group of four.

"There’s no need for that," she said.

Ximen Jinxing, wearing a mask, glanced at the most prominent part of the woman’s voluptuous figure.

Outrageous!

It was one thing to be a whole size larger, but to brazenly flaunt it by exposing half of it.

Was she not afraid of them falling out while walking?

Zhang San thought it was for the best not to know such a person.

However, Zhang San chose to smile and said, "Let’s still get to know each other. After all, we will be working together on the case, and we can share any important clues we find."

As he spoke, Zhang San stood up from his seat and bowed with clasped fists towards the Martial Artists from the Town Demon Office, speaking very politely, "I am Zhang San from the Town Martial Office, acting as the Military Chief. These three are my sworn brothers, Wang Junwu, Wang Ziteng, and this is Wang Dali."

Zhang San deliberately omitted Ximen Jinxing’s name; after all, with the mask, no one could recognize him.

And since Ximen Jinxing had grown up in the Capital, he surely had some connections and resources. It was best to keep such an ace up their sleeve hidden for now.

At this point, a dashing young gentleman from the Town Demon Office also stood up and bowed to Zhang San.

"I am Wen Ruyu from the Town Demon Office, recently joined. This is Hao Naiwen, the most promising Martial Artist of our Town Demon Office. This man’s name is Baili Chengfeng. And this is Chu Can, who was just transferred back from Longyou Road," he said.

"I still have much to learn in terms of handling cases, and I hope for your guidance, brother Zhang San."

"Not at all..."

"You’re too courteous..."

For a moment, Zhang San and Wen Ruyu across from him exchanged bows and clasps of the fist, both exhibiting a humble attitude, appearing to onlookers as if they had been close friends for many years.

Yet the other six people in the room thought of only one word when looking at these two: "hypocritical."

Zhang San had not expected that Chu Can had also joined the Town Demon Office, and judging by Chu Can’s current appearance, he seemed to be highly regarded.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been transferred back to the Capital from Longyou Road.

As for Hao Naiwen, who spoke with a fiery temper as soon as he arrived, although he was very polite in his dress, he was quite impolite in his demeanor.

As for Baili Chengfeng, he didn’t look very tall, but he gave Zhang San an inscrutable feeling, likely also a tough customer.

Zhang San continued to exchange pleasantries with Wen Ruyu from the Town Demon Office for a few more sentences, then allowed Wang Qi to continue speaking.

At that moment, both Wang Qi and Wang Gang were somewhat dumbfounded.

In the many years they had been at the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture’s Government Office, it was the first time they had seen the people from the Town Martial Office and the Town Demon Office be so polite upon meeting each other.

And as Wang Qi described the Floating Corpse Case, Zhang San and others finally understood why this case had been assigned to both the Town Martial Office and the Town Demon Office for investigation.

Initially, someone had discovered a body in a desolate spot with overgrown water plants near the Ba River and immediately ran to report it at the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture’s Government Office.

Since the incident occurred outside the city walls of Daxing City, in the countryside, the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture’s Government Office originally planned to push the matter onto the nearby county for handling.

After all, there wasn’t much glory in solving a murder case.

Moreover, July was known as the ghost month, when strange incidents were already plentiful. Although the occurrences of hidden mysteries were already far fewer in the Capital Region Road compared to other regions, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Shen Wen from the Magistrate’s Office intended to have someone investigate and then hand it over to the local authorities.

Coincidentally, the two people dispatched at that time were the brothers Wang Qi and Wang Gang.

But to their utter surprise, upon reaching the scene to retrieve the body, they found not one but seven corpses.

However, the two of them, having dealt with disputes and jealous fights among the officials’ sons in Daxing City for many years, lacked experience in murder cases. After retrieving the bodies, they handed the case over to the personnel dispatched by the local County Magistrate.

They did not rush to report back.

But seven lives were no small matter, especially since the incident occurred near Daxing City.

The next day at court, Shen Wen was scolded severely.

Eventually, they had no choice but to pull the case back to the Magistrate of Metropolitan prefecture’s Government Office.

And then sent people to investigate again.

But before the seven floating bodies in the Ba River could be thoroughly investigated, six more corpses floated up overnight at the southeast corner of Daxing City.

Only this time, the six bodies were not floating in water, but in the sky.

Various secret rumors spread incessantly within Daxing City.

There were even folk rumors that the Yuwen Imperial Clan of bygone days had come back to take revenge on the current Imperial Family of the Yang Family.

The day after the floating corpses appeared in the air, it just so happened that Zhang San and his group entered the city. Hence, the Pharaoh went to court, requesting Kaihuang to investigate the Floating Corpse Case as quickly as possible.

While the impact of the first Floating Corpse Case was relatively minor, the second case had far more serious implications.

And in both cases, the victims had their chests pierced by a mace, and the mace bore intricate runes.

Thus, the two cases were combined into one.

After Wang Qi finished his introduction, he looked towards the people from the Town Martial Office and the Town Demon Office a few times.

Wang Qi noticed that out of the four individuals from the Town Martial Office, aside from the masked one, the other three were listening intently.

Meanwhile, at the Town Demon Office’s side, it seemed like no one was seriously listening.

"Can you take us to the scene?" Zhang San asked.

Wang Qi immediately nodded and said with a smile, "Of course. Gentlemen, let us set out at once."

With that, Wang Qi, pulling his brother Wang Gang along, took the lead out of the living room, while Zhang San and others, along with Wen Ruyu and his group, stood up and walked to the entrance of the living room.

"Young Master Wen, after you!"

"Military Chief Zhang, please!"

They engaged in another round of extremely insincere politeness.

Wang Qi glanced at Zhang San and Wen Ruyu, who were still humbly deferring to each other at the entrance of the living room, and whispered to Wang Gang, "Don’t go. Report what happened here to the Magistrate of the Metropolitan prefecture."

Wang Gang didn’t understand what there was to report.

"Hurry up, it’s nothing if they fight when they meet, but if they can chat and laugh like this, a big trouble is definitely going to follow! Hurry up!"