“You all?”
Lu Zheng was taken aback, glancing at Liu Qingyan and Li Hanyu. “We’re involved too?”
The head constable nodded, his gaze towards Li Hanyu and Liu Qingyan tinged with subtle caution. “You’re involved as well.”
“Hm?”
The group exchanged glances, puzzled and uncertain.
Lu Zheng frowned, asking, “What’s this about?”
The head constable stood tall and steady, like a pine tree, exuding an air of immovable strength. Clearly, he was a martial arts expert.
The other constables surrounding them gripped their sword hilts, their bodies tense, their eyes sharp. They were skilled for ordinary men.
Lu Zheng couldn’t fathom what had happened to make Yizhou Prefecture’s constables so wary of them.
“Zhu Yushan, you suddenly disappeared a few months ago. Where did you go?” the head constable asked abruptly.
Zhu Yushan paused, glancing at Li Hanyu. “I went to get married.”
He hadn’t told anyone about joining the River God Mansion. In fact, with no family left, he hadn’t returned home since entering the mansion.
The few acres of farmland he owned wouldn’t need their taxes collected until autumn anyway.
“Got married?” The head constable followed Zhu Yushan’s gaze to Li Hanyu.
Her clothes were not lavish, but the fabric and accessories were finely crafted, far from crude.
Her delicate features and smooth skin marked her as a refined lady who never dirtied her hands. Would such a woman marry a poor scholar like you?
Could she be… something supernatural?
“Where is this lady from?” the head constable asked in a serious tone.
His vague questioning sparked Li Hanyu’s temper. Her face hardened, and she said coldly, “What does where I’m from have to do with this case?”
“Whether itโs relevant depends on your identities,” the head constable said, narrowing his eyes, his hands slowly curling into claws.
“Sir, could you explain the matter clearly before jumping to conclusions? This could easily lead to misunderstandings.”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow, then addressed the head constable with a polite gesture. “Lu Zheng, lay practitioner of Baiyun Temple. Greetings, sir.”
The head constable froze. “Baiyun Temple? The one in Jizhou?”
Lu Zheng nodded, continuing, “I’m also friends with Duan Changzai from your Yizhou Supernatural Affairs Office. If you doubt me, you can summon Lord Duan to confirm.”
“What?” The head constable was stunned again, his imposing aura diminishing.
“So.” Lu Zheng tapped the table. “Can you explain clearly what case we’ve supposedly committed?”
The head constable blinked. “You’re really a lay practitioner of Baiyun Temple?”
Lu Zheng circulated his true qi, wisps of cloud-like energy gathering around him.
This pure Daoist true qi and cloud-gathering technique could not be faked.
“Uh…”
The head constable froze, suddenly embarrassed. “Did I get it wrong?”
As he spoke, the constables in the inn’s lobby visibly relaxed.
Lu Zheng almost laughed. Luckily, he was here. With Zhu Yushan’s inflexible nature and Li Hanyu’s fiery temper, they might have actually started a fight.
How did this guy become head constable?
The head constable, sensing Lu Zheng’s look, defended himself. “You went into the mountains yesterday and met Duan Xian, Li Shao, Shi Yulin, and Liu Zhongling at their gathering, correct?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “We only know Duan Xian. One scholar was surnamed Liu, but we donโt know the other two.”
Lu Zheng paused. “What happened?”
“They’re all dead.”
The head constable explained, “According to the girls from Yuluo House, the four gathered outside the city early in the morning, then parted ways immediately after returning to the city in the evening. The only people they encountered that day were you.”
He continued, glancing at Li Hanyu and Liu Qingyan, “Also, itโs said they had a verbal conflict with a scholar named Zhu Yushan, and the two women with him were so beautiful they didnโt seem human…”
“So,” Lu Zheng nodded, “you think Brother Zhu, missing for months, ran into something supernatural, and because of the verbal conflict, he harboured ill intentions and killed them with dark arts?”
The head constable remained silent, clearly that was his theory.
Lu Zheng shook his head and recounted their itinerary from the previous day to the constable.
“So, we just crossed paths briefly and went our separate ways,” Lu Zheng said.
The head constable looked at Zhu Yushan. “But Liu Zhongling did offend you with his words.”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow.
The head constable looked at Lu Zheng, then at Zhu Yushan and Li Hanyu. “Even with a Baiyun Temple practitioner present, you two are still suspects.”
The implication was that Zhu Yushan and Li Hanyu might have deceived Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng, “…”
Zhu Yushan, now understanding the situation, immediately said, “My wife is from the Lushui River God Mansion.”
Li Hanyu snapped, “The Lushui River God is my father!”
Head constable: =ออออ(๊ชแ๊ชโงฬฃฬฅฬ)
…
The Yizhou Prefecture constables arrived boldly but left sheepishly.
One was a lay practitioner of Baiyun Temple, another the daughter of the Lushui River God.
Both were from righteous forces. Without irrefutable evidence, he couldnโt treat them as criminals.
“How did he become head constable?” Li Hanyu muttered, eating beef.
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow. “Who made you two so beautiful?”
Li Hanyu smiled, whispering something to Liu Qingyan, making her blush.
“By the way!” Li Hanyu said suddenly. “Since the constable suspects us, it means he has no other leads. So, as long as the real culprit isnโt caught, weโre still suspects?”
Zhu Yushan nodded. “Indeed. But with the prefectureโs resources, solving a case should be simple enough.”
Lu Zheng, however, caught the meaning in Li Hanyuโs words.
“You want to get involved?”
“Since weโre caught up in this, letโs take a look. Who dares frame my husband for this case!”
“To the yamen!”
…
A quarter of an hour later, the four were led into the prefectureโs morgue.
Besides the head constable, there was a hooded figure radiating an eerie aura.
“This is Lord You from the Supernatural Affairs Office,” the constable introduced.
The figure turned, revealing a black ghost mask under the hood, with dark, unreadable eyes.
“You Che from the Supernatural Affairs Office.”
You Cheโs voice was ethereal. “Lu Zheng, Iโve heard of you from Du Huanzhen.”
“Greetings, Lord You!” Lu Zheng bowed slightly.
“Hm.” You Che nodded, ignoring the others, and said to the constable, “These three were killed by Liu Zhongling, who was then silenced.”
